


Oh Brother

by failMedic



Category: Underfell - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe - Gaster Blaster (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Justice, Mild Language, Minor Violence, No Smut, Some Humor, Underlining AU, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:24:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 104,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8887279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/failMedic/pseuds/failMedic
Summary: Underfell Sans left his world due to a botched genocide run and Undertale Papyrus is grieving for the loss of his brother. They happened to bump into each other.Later on, Papyrus moves in with this Sans, or better known as Red, due to the threat of being thrown out of his home after the explosive reaction of loosing his brother. After a while, horrible rumors start to spread and it's ruining a great time.





	1. Party Crasher

**Author's Note:**

> HI! So, some of might not know this yet, but this story is going through a better edit and rewrite. As I promised.
> 
> Why you ask? Because I started this story almost a year ago to the day and to be quite honest, it was awful.  
> Well i've taken it upon myself to re-edit/re-write the fuck out this bitch to produce a better fiction. A few details will change, more will be added. Inconsistencies will be addressed and hopefully, during this time, I can come up with an ending that isn't awful.  
> To those that stuck around during the original postings, I personally thank you. To those that are new, feel free to read on as I'm not going to remove the old chapters until I finish rewriting them.
> 
> OH, and one other thing. I'm changing Sans' name to Red.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet a skeleton that nobody really likes because he looks different, then oldly enough, there is a birthday party? What is this shit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first of the re-write, I hope it reads better than it did before. I'll be doing two chapters at a time.

              Walking down King st with his head hanging low, hands in his pockets, travels a skeleton. Not just any skeleton. This skeleton has the disputation of a rattle snake, and the looks that would make any sensible monster turn and walk the other way. Large pointed teeth, peppered in scars and cracks, and one more noticeably larger scar on the left side of his face.

Resting at the top of his head, an old injury that has grown in over the years, splitting down his brow, carving into his eye socket and stopping just above an older mouth injury of winters long past. Nestled in the missing chunk of bone sit is a rather large and shiny golden tooth. Two pricing glowing orbs for eyes glace down at the side walk as this skeleton tries to keep the attention away from him. One a bright crimson, the other a dull white.

              Poor out of place bugger is on his way to work.  He’s been living in this city for a few months now. A city that rightfully gained its name from the mountain that it happens to butt up right next to: Mt. Ebott, or better known as the City of Ebott. It’s a cozy little location where its current population has risen quite dramatically over the passing months, now closing in on two years after ‘The Event’.

              This skeleton, rather stocky build, about medium sized, makes his way down town, walking fast, faces past and he’s inbound. Fortunately enough for him, he’s managed to land a job working as a dish washer at certain fire elemental’s new surface establishment.

Each noon he takes the same way to work, sometimes gawking with a glowing eyes at the blueness of the sky, the fluffiness of the wispy clouds up high and the brightness of the fire sun. Some days it would rain and he would walk without an umbrella just to feel the water patter on his bones, often getting his shirt soaked and being forced to change once arriving to his destination. He could easily teleport but his bulky frame needs the exercise. Round crimson belly will often times glow through light colored material and stain with magic, which is a bitch to get out. His comment, mind you.

 The warm summer sun on cold bone would usually relax this skeleton just enough that he would unwillingly deactivate the crimson orb back into a soft light, matching the other that sits in his sockets. It would make him forget about the botched killing spree that he had the glory of surviving through, and the fact that what remains of his brother, his own really tall skeletal brother, wasn’t sitting in a vial in his pocket.

Today was a little different. This stocky skeleton is still making his way down town over to his place of work earlier than normal to help set up for a kids birthday party. This wasn’t any random child’s party, no no. This is the birthday party for the child behind the fabled event that released the monsters from their underground prison.

Opting to go into work early to help pre-party prep work for the Young Ambassador’s Birthday, which also happened to fall around the same time that Monster Kind was released from the Underground, Frisk had started to hold his private party at Grillby’s. All the original monsters that he managed befriended on his journey through the unknown would help set up for the now twelve year old child.

This skeleton would enter from the back of the restaurant to keep the disturbances down to a minimum. By now it was no secret that the new hire at Grillby’s looked just like another particular skeleton they all knew and missed. That’s right. There was a tragic accident a few months ago with an unexpected death to go along with it. This tragic event happened around the same time that this new crimson skeleton showed up so it was only natural that the original inhabitants would point the blame at him, claiming that he murdered the other to take his place, along with other highly rude conversations and gestures. This would often upset the crimson skeleton and he would either storm off or hold his own rude conversation.

 And just why is this crimson version of a dead skeleton doing here? Well, it was mentioned earlier that he was a rather unfortunate victim of a botched genocide attempt. Somehow, being the only reaming monster in the underground would drive anybody into madness, causing them to try to find a way out, and that he did. This skeleton built himself a device that allowed him travel in-between words of all kinds. An interdimensional door way if you will, allowing this skeleton to abandon his home-world.

              Once upon a time ago, this skeleton went by a different way of life back at home be he had an desire to start a new, being from a very _very_ hostile version of the world he currently lives, this skeleton would often try to live as peacefully on the surface that he now calls home. Though, being able to go out and about at night to watch the starts without having to look over one’s shoulder all the time is truly an amazing feeling, something this skeleton has learned to love living out here.

              Taking the name ‘Red’, as he hates being called by his real name but due to the fact that he shares a face with dead skeleton of the same font, Red makes a point clarify that he’s not the dead skeleton that everybody misses and he’s just a bozo that shares his face, Or in other words as he would like to say, “Fuck off, I’m not Sans.”

              Finally making it to the rear entrance of his place of work, Red enters Grillby’s with a massive scowl already on his permanent smiling face. Grillby, his boss and owner of the restaurant, Muffet and Toriel were already hard at work on tonight’s entrées. Red sneaks in from behind, clocks in and gets to work keeping the place clean. He gives a greeting grunt and gets to work scrubbing off cake batter and related goo off of pots and tools. Occasionally he will hear quips of laughter and chatter coming from the ladies and they would look back at him. Red didn’t care that he wasn’t invited to the party. Sure he could go if he wanted to but he figures that it’s better to stay in the back and be ‘glad’ for Frisk, the annoying little brat.

And listen to that god’s awful noise that is Mettaton singing to Frisk, wishing him a happy birthday.

Nothing really changes. His own Mettaton would do the same when he was locked away underground back at home and even they seem to like it too. Red, on the other hand, was just too busy scrubbing away at rather hard spot on a rather feisty pan as the dining room door opens from inside the restaurant.

Grillby’s kitchen isn’t large, and Red’s nook is just big enough for him to work. The door slams shut, causing the ladies to jump, and Red can feel a set of eyes bore into the back of his head. He recognizes this feeling; it’s similar to the harsh gaze that Red would receive from when his own brother would catch him under his sentry desk back at home. More often than not, Red would get a little warning before magic would come piercing through the wood of his station.

The stocky and sneering skeleton turns to find himself locking eyes with this world’s Papyrus. He has to tilt his head up just a little to look into the taller skeleton’s face, and boyo is Papyrus staring hard. If Papyrus could, he would bore a hole in the edgy counterpart of his brother’s head.

The reinstated queen, Toriel, calls Papyrus away from the stare down. Red watches just him go and shrugs, then rolls his eye orbs and turns his back to the encounter to refocus his attention on this rather stubborn dish and continues to scrub, brushing off the encounter. Oh what Red would give for a proper brawl with somebody.  A real fight, one that blood splatters and teeth fall out, but that’s highly frowned upon here.

Over the course of the late morning and into the afternoon, the chill would periodically return. Red decides that he doesn’t need this and would teleport out every once in a while. He would then reappear within a few moments as fresh set of dishes are placed at his station to scrub. Often humming songs with his harsh voice, scrubbing in tune or creating his own to keep pace with. Anything to stop a possible fight.

Expertly hidden under the large fold of his belly sits a tail. A short stubby tail that Red doesn’t want anybody to know about. It twitches and shakes, rubbing his soft belly almost casing a snort to escape from Red’s teeth. He just bites back the feeling and continues to scrub. One day he’ll let the tail out, just not today. Today, Red focuses on not braking another monsters teeth in.

That would be bad, no, horrible. It would look awful on Red’s part and he needs this job. Grillby was the only person that was kind enough to hire him and Red has taken it onto himself to keep on the good side of his boss. The stocky skeleton figures since Grillby was good friends with the original Sans, that this was probably the only reason that he received this job. Since then, Grillby has been very vocal about how grateful he is at hiring Red. Since he is a stocky, lower to the ground guy with weight on him, and who happens to be much more sinister looking then most monsters he knows, Red has broken up many a fight from breaking out in the bar.

One fast paced evening, a drunken argument between two humans went to a full out brawl and  Red managed to not only pin both of humans down, but he also managed to throw both of the humans out like potatoes. Needless to say, don’t mess with the staff. Red seemed over joyed for the physical altercation to develop, which scared his boss to no end. He even told Grillby after that if anything like that were to happen again, that he would be more than happy to help break it up. Red also told his boss that in a sense it reminded him of his bar back at home.

That bar turned strip club after a certain hour was amazing to work at and this Grillby there happened to be purple flame monster that considered himself and his brother kin. Talking about his Grillby often brought a smile to Red’s face as he recalled his family stories. Red even managed to find Grillby’s dust back in Underfell and spread it around his bar, but keep his glasses. Even though Red was completely heartbroken when he found that pile of dust, the first thing he did was to fulfill his kin’s wishes and thought it was the kind thing to do.

As the afternoon draws to a close, the evening starts again. Party guests begin to arrive: First it’s some of the lesser monsters that Frisk befriended, then it becomes the boss monsters that he considers his close family. The dining room has been set up to accommodate for the patrons and Frisk finally arrives with King Asgore and Papyrus, who they had to practically shove through the door.

Rather orange in the face, the tall skeleton seems to be carrying something; it appears to be a jar full of glittering dust.

‘Must be his brother. That’s kinda dust-pressing.’ Red quips to himself as he does one final round before heading back into the kitchen. Nothing to bring back with him, the skeleton sticks his own hand in his pocket, clenching the small vial that rests within. ‘I’m no different.’ He passes the doors to go back into the kitchen, cleaning off counters and mopping up mess. Once his duties are finished, Red collects himself and tries to find something to do. Music and laughter fill into the kitchen every so often as Grillby comes in to head into his office or maybe another monster looking for a moment to themselves.

 Time passes and Red can smell the cake being cut. It smells amazing and he grumbles a little to himself. Grillby did bring the kitchen skeleton some food about an hour ago, telling him that they would love it if Red joined them. Red often rejects and stays in his spot. He knows he’s not going to be welcomed out there, the other interactions of the past have proven that.

However, Red occasionally pokes his head out of the doors to see if there are dishes that need to be claimed and cleaned. Other than that, he just sits in the back on his phone surfing the web. Looking up star chats and fun little workshops that any of the planetariums might be hosting. Chatting with online friends and just getting into some harmless trouble.

Totally the gulfed into his phone, Red doesn’t hear the doors that lead from the dining room into the kitchen open. The sound of sneakers on tile stirs him from his game. He looks up thinking he is going to get scolded again by Grillby, only to find Frisk standing in place. The fearless child is standing there with a small plate of cake and a small smile on his face. Acne and age are starting to catch up with him, little spots start to litter his soft face.

“Thought that you might want some.” Frisk delivered with a soft voice. He places the plate on the counter next to Red, who follows the child’s actions with wide eyes, gripping his phone in his clawed hands. Red then nods, mumbling a ‘thanks’ with an uncertain voice. It’s much deeper than Frisk is used to hearing and his small face scrunches up. This child then gives the skeleton another small smile and turns to take his leave.

“Wait!” Red squeaks out, chattering his teeth. Frisk stops and turns to look back at him.

“Knock Knock.” Large stupid grim grows on Red’s face. Frisk’s face lights up in response. “Who’s there?” He replies with a cheerful tune. “Abby.” Red japes back. “Abby who?” Frisk returns. “Abby birthday to you.” Red snickers out. Frisk snickers at that retort.

‘Ugh, that was horrible, but I still got it. That might make the kid happy.’ Red snicker to himself, rough voice chuckling. Frisk wipes a tear away, his Sans would have filled the whole night with stupid jokes like that, and it seems that he missed him dearly.

“I like birthdays like the next bozo, but I think too many can kill ya.” Red shrugs off and ends with a wink. Frisk starts to laugh. “One more, one more. Okay. Why are birthday’s good for ya?” Red asks him. Frisk nods with eager anticipation. “Statistics show that the people who have them the most live the longest!” Red ends his one liner with his signature ‘Ey’. Frisk laughs and laughs, snorts too. It sounds like he really needed that tonight. The child wipes more tears from his face. “Thank you, but I’ve got to get back out there. You are more than welcome to join us if you want.” Frisk offers. Red shakes his head.

“As much as I would love to be out there telling more horrible jokes, I’m gonna have to decline the offer. Your friends and family don’t really see me as a nice guy and I can tell that I remind them a little too much of your missing skeleton. Papyrus seems takes it the hardest.” Red explains to Frisk, who looks down, a little sad.

 “Hey, have a fun rest of your party kiddo. You better head back out before they come looking for ya, thinking I stole you away or some shit. Judging by the time, I better fire up this here sink and clear a spot. I’ve got a lot of work to do before I can go home.” Red smiles at Frisk, who then waves good bye and takes his real leave back out into the party.

A loud sigh then sounds out from Red. “Fuck…. I don’t want to get involved with that brat. Never again.” He narrows his harsh sockets at the swinging door and straightens up his back. Never again. No more kid. No more family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Better? Don't remember how it was before? Cool. Hope it was still enjoyable.  
> Also, A03 does not like my surface, sorry if the formatting is off.


	2. The Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red decides to man up and do something way out of character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight traces of Undertum and ecto-gel. Its just to get a better perspective of his size.  
> An anatomically correct skeleton with an attitude problem. Where's is the fun in that?
> 
> Welcome to edited chapter number two, woo.  
> Yay, A03 still hates my pc

Not long after, the party patrons begin to take to their departures home and the dining room clears out. Red did get a small break after all; the plates are paper and all the utensils are plastic. The only things that needed to be washed were the large serving plates and utensils. The skeleton then loads the industrial dishwasher one last time for the night and cleans up his station. It was a long day of hard work and Grillby’s is closed on Sundays, so tomorrow Red gets his chance to sleep in.

Taking another few hours to fully clean up and wash all the tables down, vacuum and mop, Red is finally able to clock out at the wee hours of the morning and depart from the bar. Its dark out since it’s close to 2am, but Red lives rather close to the bar, so it’s not a bad walk.

However tonight, the skeleton feels like he is being followed. He would stop and turn to face behind himself, but nobody would be there. Squinting and growling, Red would shrug it off and continue on home. Must have been his mind playing tricks on him. This was a common feeling back at home after staggering back in the snow but this feels different somehow.

About then something hits Red from behind, trying to crack him over his skull. Whoever it was just tried to knock him out, but the only thing they succeeded in doing was knocking him forward and pissing this skeleton off. Crimson steam starts to pool up from his left eye.

This wasn’t the first time somebody tried to mug Red, but it was the first time in this world. Nobody here had a level of violence higher than his, not even the King. Red just started cackling. He stands up tall and doesn’t turn around. Already he can smell the alcohol reeking off his attacker, masking if they’re human or monster.

“Buddy, I don’t know what ya are tryin to do but mugging me isn’t something ya wanna to try.” Red doesn’t bother to turn around. “I’m gonna let you get off this one time, and I’m not gonna turn around to see ya face. However, I’m gonna give you to the count of three to run away, or I’m gonna make ya pay.” He retorts out with a malicious grin, crimson eye glowing brightly enough so that the light is reflecting around, steam rolling out of his socket and nose hole. Red can hear feet behind him shuffle, like his attacker is considering his options.

“One” He starts his count down, holding up his clawed fingers, counting down; the assailant doesn’t move. “Two. It’s like ya wanna call my bluff or something.” The feet behind him step closer. He pauses for a sec trying to figure if his ears are deceiving him. “Three.” He delivers in a lust filled voice that’s out for blood.

  “Ready or not.” Red summons jagged bones from behind him with a snap. The attack lets out a gasp from behind. Red’s attacks look menacing. Jagged bones float from above and shimmer with powerful magic. “Here I come.” Red chuckles with the same lust and rains hell fire from above.  Bright white bone attacks turn the same crimson as Red’s magic and come flying down on his assailant.

“Don’t move kiddo. Those bones will give ya a nasty cut if ya do. Wait till they go away and consider this a warning: Don’t fuck with me.

The attacker lets out a muffled scream, trying his best not to get hurt. Red still doesn’t even bother turning around. He doesn’t feel the need to. “Pick your battles kid. Don’t try to mug a monster that’s a lot scarier than you.” Red then leaves his attacker and teleports home in a puff of crimson smoke. His disappearance out of the area causes the bones to disperse into magic allowing the mugger to get away, but Red doesn’t care. He just throws his keys on the kitchen table and staggers off to his room.

Lonely Red lives in a small two bedroom apartment, alone on the top floor of Snowdin Hills Apartment Complex. Fitting that he would live in a building that is called Snowdin. His apartment is a mess, but not disgusting. Clothes are thrown all over Red’s room, and more are fit to be added. Both bedrooms are about the same size and are only big enough to fit a full sized bed, dresser and night stand in. Red, however, has just a mattress on the floor and a mound of blankets on his bed. Just how he likes it, enabling him to curl up in the warmth and sleep. After wiggling off his dirty work clothes, leaving on his underwear that he doesn’t need but likes to keep on, and his socks, Red finds his way into the bed mess and quickly falls asleep. Soon soft snoring comes from the mound until the sun glimmers its way through blinds.

Late the next morning he wakes to find himself in his warm mess of tangled sheets, chewing on his pillow. A freed tail flicks back and forth in anger, his current status causing himself to grumble. ‘Fuck, not again.’ Somehow with only a sock on, most of the way out of his blanket nest and drool all over his face, Red laughs at himself and regathers more of his blankets to hold in the warmth. Reaching down in the sheets, Red then pulls the sock off and is now a fat skeleton in his small bed with no clothes on. He has woken up naked more times than he can remember, but it is still funny. Since Red is a skeleton, he has no organs nor genitals. However, he can use magic to create a set of genitals if he pleases, the very same way he would form a tongue, Red has a large membrane around his pelvis and up under his rib cage that protects his soul. It also stores magical energy, or gel, that he needs to live and stay together. It resembles a gut like that on a normal monster, or human, and stores energy the same way fat is stored on a living creature; the more energy, the more gel in the membrane. His bones fill in to help support the weight of the membrane, and looks like the equivalent of a stout 5’1 male weighing at about two hundred and sixty pounds. In short, Red is a big man covered in scars and ridges but he is not a teddy bear. Do not be fooled.

Deciding that it is time to get up and shower, just get it out of the way in the late morning, Red pulls himself out of his bed and stumbles around looking for clean cloths. Already undressed, he heads to his bathroom with a pair of pants in one hand and a shirt in another.

In his bathroom sits just a shower stall with a small lip, no tub. Red turns the single knob to the right over into his preferred heat zone, better known as melt your flesh off hot and waits on the shower to steam up. With the water being this hot, it practically melts the grim off from the day before, aiding in scrubbing off and drying. The skeleton is then dressed before noon and ponders at what he is going to spend the rest of his day off. He decides to be productive, and by productive, he means to throw stones at the birds in the park. So after stuffing his tail into his stomach fold, Red gathers his keys, wallet and phone, shoes and then heads out of his apartment, passing down the tiny hall and living room/kitchen combo.

These days are the best! Red spends his day doing just about anything he wanted, going to the story to pick up his supplies for the week, going up into the forest, complete with book in hand to read out the trees out there, or walking around town, listening to quips of conversations that he passes, checking to see if anybody has been talking about his previous nights outing. The skeleton loved these days and longed for the chance to share this with somebody special. Sometimes he would return home to Underfell for whatever reason, but today, he just wanted to spend his time at the park in the sun. He would even occasionally see Frisk and his family out along the grass and today wasn’t any different.

This skeleton would sit in the grass by the pond to watch the ducks quack around, often throwing small stones but today it seems that Frisk has decided to come up to Red after spotting him from afar.

The noise of an approacher catches Red’s attention and he looks over at the child with his glowing orbs and eyes Frisk as he sits down next to him in the grass.

“Um, heya kiddo. What’s up with ya?” Red becomes awkward about this encounter but is trying to be friendly. Frisk just smiles in return.

“It sucks to be alone and I don’t think you should be either.” Frisk explains as he stays next to Red, who just nods. “Well kid, if ya haven’t noticed, I don’t really want attention so I don’t go for it, but if ya insist on joining me, guess I can’t stop ya.” Red just crosses his legs and sits back, using his hands as support. Frisk stays next to him, gazing up at the sky, trying to make idle small talk. Red just hums and meh’s in return. Not the best monster to talk to.

A few more moments go by and the sound of a second set of shoes shuffle up through the grass. It seems like Toriel found her way over to gather Frisk away from the Sans look alike.

“I hope my child isn’t bothering you.” The queen comments. Red shakes his head in return, then looks up to her. “Nope. It’s all good. Kid’s keeping me company.” Toriel tries to give Red a warm smile, but instead glares down at Frisk.

“Oh, I’m sorry if this comes off as rude, but do you really have a high level of violence? Undyne told us about the time Papyrus ran into you and though she will never tell, it scared her.” Toriel inquiries about Red, out of concern for Frisk. She wants to know if she can trust this skeleton. Red then sighs rather loudly and goes to stand up, pleasant time over.

“Unless you plan on fighting or sparing with me that really isn’t necessary to know.” Frisk perks up. “I’ll spar with you!” This child offers, much to the horror of both older monsters. Red gets in irritable look on his face and rubs his socket.

“No ya little kid. First off, ya have no magic and I don’t wanna be responsible for ya. Second, I’m not gonna fight ya and don’t ask me again. One hit, one mess up and ya would be a splatter on the grass.” Red snaps his attention over to Frisk, eye lights flickering as his anger builds. “I won’t even spar with any of the monsters here, cause I don’t fight fair.” Red manages in a calm voice, along with gritted teeth.

Toriel lifts her hands to her chest at the aggression. Red’s face turns a shade of crimson and he clenches his fists, holding back. Frisk gets up and goes over to Toriel, who holds onto her child in a protective manner. Using his hands to mimic his breathing, Red takes a deep breath and exhales, slowly relaxing as the crimson flush goes away. “Sorry. I’m good. Still getting used to not blowing up when angry.” Shaking his head and giving a huff, Red tries to force a smile.

 

“Sorry if I upset you.” Toriel apologizes to Red, who scoffs in return. He just readjusts his cloths and shoves his clawed hands in his pockets.

“That’s not upset. Just slightly irritated.” The skeleton states. He looks all around, trying to not make eye contact and snorts steam out of his nose.

“Whelp, I’m heading out. Gonna go. Later.” Red pivots on his heels and goes to walk off, trying to get away from the duo as quickly as possible. Frisk forces himself out of Toriel’s arms, runs up to Red from behind and hugs him, arms clasping around his waist and pressing into his stomach fold. That quickly causes his irritation to return, forcing Red to bit back as much of his anger as possible. Instead, he stands completely still and shakes. The skeleton then slowly turns his head to look over his shoulder, crimson orb blazing in his socket, beads of moisture rolling down his face.

“K-k-kid…. Get… get off of me…” A growl bubbles up from Red’s ribs. He’s fighting the urge to take a chunk of flesh from the child. Tail under his belly starts to twitch harder and Frisk feels it in his grasp. The very end that connects up into Red’s pelvis is starting to free itself. This nosy little child then reaches to pull the visible end of the tail out of his fold.

“You have a tail! Come on, let me see it.” By now, Frisk has Red’s tail in his grasp, tugging, trying to free it. Toriel has worked her way up and stands with her hands on her hips. “My child! Leave him alone. What’s gotten into you?” Frisk then let’s go of Red out of surprise, who then disappears in a puff of crimson smoke, leaving the angry mother and unfazed child at her wrath.

The angry skeleton makes his way home and paces around. He mumbles and growls, freed tail flicking back and forth, claws grip into pants as Red tries to force himself to calm down. He sits into his rather old and beat up couch and wiggles around. This skeleton hates getting touched without warning. It stresses him out and that never ends well. It takes him a while of breathing exercises that he practiced but Red manages to control himself and he finally falls back on the couch. He rests and lays, wonder what to do next. Can’t go back out again, otherwise Red risks running into more unwanted trouble. He doesn’t bother anybody, why can’t they leave him alone?

Before he knows it, eye lids go heavy and Red softly snores away on his couch. He wakes again in the wee hours of the morning and finds that his head was touching his chest. With a grumble, Red slowly lifts up his head and the killer neck pains shoot up through the vertebrae.

“Ugh, fuck, my neck” Neck props in protest as Red straightens himself out, then lays back down on the couch taking up the length rubbing his sore neck. Grabbing onto the arm of the couch, Red manages to pull himself forward popping bones as he goes along. They hurt and sting but feel better overall, then another quick flex, Red stays on his couch limp on the old cushion.

Another blink later, Red passes about again. He curls up on his couch and clings.

Warm light blares in through the tiny kitchen window, across the counters and onto the couch where a snoring skeleton lies. He snorts awake and can faintly hear the radio in his room… That only goes off when….

Red springs up off the couch, magic crackles around him. What time is it? He has to squint to see the clock on the stove and it reads quarter till he has to be at work. Stumbling out of the living room, into his own bed room to dig for work cloths, a still groggy Red cusses himself. He steps over to smack off his radio alarm and almost trips trying to pull up pants. No time for a shower indeed but just enough to brush his teeth.

Half stumble run into the bathroom, Red cheats a little and uses magic to apply some tooth paste on his worn out brush, then holds it under the facet so he can turn that on by himself. He brushes his teeth rather quickly, causing the level of clean to be questionable, then rubs the bristles under the still running water. With only two minutes to spare, and that Grillby has requested that Red doesn’t teleport into the building, Red grabs his coat, wallet, phone and teleports to the alleyway next to the building, right next to the dumpster, then hops over through the door just in time.

Crimson flush taking over his face, Red walks in the front door. Grillby is behind the bar setting up glasses and counting liquor for the afternoon and hears his employee come in, huffing hard. The elemental cocks a brow at Red.

“Sup.” Red tries to greet his boss without giving his status away. Grillby just laughs in return, crackling with amusement. “Almost late today, hun Red?”

Giving up in a huff, Red gives a sharp nod. “I overslept...” Red narrow his eyes and looks away, it’s better to be truthful. He then heads over to the employee room, which is a tiny room with a desk, couch, coat rack and TV, Grillby’s office is just off the side. Red hangs his coat up, clocks in and gets to work, by helping to get the dining room ready for the day by dusting off tables, folding napkins, and preforming other tasks. Grillby used to do this all his own, but the extra hands don’t hurt.

As the day passes on and the bar opens for Lunch, a few familiar faces enter and leave as the lunch rush comes to a close. There was a rather stupid patron at the bar; he spilled food and drink all over the counter and floor. Things got sticky, so Red was handed the fun task of cleaning it all up. He grumbled as he retrieved the mop and bucket from the closet, and a rag from the sink on the other side of the counter.

After what felt like forever, and cleaning condiments off the underside of the stool because that makes since, Red finishes with scrubbing and drying the now clean counter off. Feeling a bit of pride in his work, the front door to the restaurant opens revealing two faces Red did not want to see today; a certain tall skeleton monster and his fishy friend.

It seems like Papyrus has been crying for a while and stressed to the max by the show of glowing eye lights and a poor Undyne is trying to console him, but it seems like nothing is really taking an effect. Red just wheels the large yellow mop bucket back into the closet and tries to flee into the kitchen, but instead gets stuck with taking the duo some menus over once they get seated in a booth over by the bar counter. Grillby takes gives Red some mercy and takes over, walking over to the duo to gather their orders. Red is gone within a moment, back into the kitchen to finish unloading the Hobart he left.

 If one strains, they can over hear the duo’s conversation, and it doesn’t sound good. Red can hear Papyrus burst into tears over something and gives him a little pity, but his enjoyment in the misfortune of others takes over and this skeleton takes a moment to listen in.

“Nyeh! I’ve told you time and time again Undyne. The land lady is going to kick me out of my apartment!” Papyrus cries. “I don’t know what to do. She’s told me that she has had a bad history of tenants getting mad and destroying objects and doesn’t want a repeat of that anymore. I have until the end of this week to find a new place to live.” He slurs through tears and long fingers on his hands. Papyrus is a wreak. He looks awful, like he hasn’t slept in days and Undyne is trying very hard to console him.  Her fins are pushed back and her one eye is opened wide.

“N-n-nobody I know h-h-has any extra space a-a-and I can’t return to that house underground. It’s j-j-just not the same! I’ve sold off most of my belongings but I don’t make enough money to get a new place.” This poor skeleton just sobs in his hands. His friend lifts up her hands to grab his but hesitates. She flicks her fins on her head and looks around.

“I’ll be right back Paps.” Undyne scoots up to leave and wonders over to the bathroom. She may be brave and strong, but this warrior isn’t very good with emotions. Usually when she returns she has a few better things to say and can offer a strong hug.

Having moved to across the bar to listen in, Red perks up. He’s been thinking about getting a roommate to help with the cost of his apartment and there would be no other roommate choice than a nicer clone of his brother…. Or sohe hopes.

‘I don’t believe I’m gonna to do this.’ Red scowls as he thinks to himself. He gathers his strength, balls his fists and works himself up for the following conversion. A few heavy steps right over to a sobbing Papyrus, Red very apprehensively steps up to the taller skeleton, who doesn’t notice him at first.

“Papyrus.” Red begins by clearing his throat, poor Papyrus freezes in place. “I’ve overheard ya situation, and I typically don’t offer this but I have a spare room in my apartment. I’ve been thinking about getting a roommate to help cover my dues. It’s yours if you need a place to say.” Red’s voice cracked a few times during his ramble but maybe, just maybe, if he lets this other skeleton in, then other monsters might see that he isn’t a horrible monster. Papyrus slowly turns to look at the monster that offered him kindness. The once kind skeleton has a cold look upon his face.

Longest moment ever, Papyrus studies Red’s body and face for a few moment to determine if he is telling the truth. Papyrus decides that this much is true and begins to cry again, this time tears of joy. He hops up and engulfs Red in a very tight hug, who doesn’t know what to do and begins to chatter.

Another moment later, Undyne returns to find, much to her horror, Papyrus locked in a hug with Red. This skeleton, somebody who Papyrus wouldn’t go near because he was afraid and was reminded too much of his brother has now pinned the crimson skeleton in a massive hug. Red just has a plea of ‘help’ across his face.

 “What. Just. Happened?” Undyne asks in a befuddled voice, cyan magic starting to crackle around her finger tips. Grillby arrives up beside her with their drinks on a platter. He then places them on the table. “I believed that Red just offered Papyrus a place to stay.”

Unsure of what to do, Red just pats Papyrus on the back. “Um, okay. Too long, please let go.” Another moment later, Papyrus finally let’s go with a massive smile on his face, giving Red a chance to shake off and recompose himself. He then rubs the back of his skull. “Um…. I get off very late tonight, but I don’t have to be here until like ten in the morning.”

“Noon.” Grillby interrupts his crimson skeleton with a proud smile on his face, who looks at him confused in return. “You can come in late tomorrow because of your kind act.” Grillby gestures at a gleefully bouncing Papyrus. Red then nods at Grillby and returns his attention at Papyrus.

“I can give you my address and you can come by tomorrow morning to see if it’s what ya like.” Papyrus still happily jumps up and down twitching with excitement. “Gimme me a sec, and I’ll write it down for ya.” Red departs the dining room to receive his phone out of his pocket off the coat rack. He then returns in a short amount of time to find the tall excited skeleton holding Undyne and hopping up and down with her in his long arms. Grillby has also departed from the group and can be seen cleaning off his bar. Fins pressed back, eye narrowed, Undyne looks very confused but has forced a smile on her teeth for Papyrus.

“Better idea, I can text you my address.” Holding his phone in his clawed hands, Red taps away on his screen to bring up its contact menu, then taps ‘Create new contact’. Now Red has a grand total of three people in his contact list. Papyrus, in response, whips his phone out of his own pocket, smooth finger tips at the ready to receive his, hopefully, new room-mates text.

“What’s ya number?” Sans asks in a rough voice. Papyrus smiles and gives the stocky skeleton his cell number and they exchange information, along with verbally deciding on a time. Sadly enough Red has to cut this interact short due to the fact that he has work to return too.

Much to Red’s disdain, Papyrus gives him another hug and settles back down in his seat at the booth, menu in hand eager to have his first meal in a long time. Undyne glares at Red as he walks away and slowly sits down on the other bench to join him. Red can hear hushed talking between the two, figuring that Undyne is trying to talk Papyrus out of the offer but Red just shrugs and ignores it. Papyrus is a grown skeleton. Let him make his own decision.


	3. The Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Red offers Papyrus a place to say, we get to see what he does in the evenings at the bar and a little bit more into his life.

The long workday finally draws into a close, and with that the ever welcomed start of the late evening. Most monsters and humans are either out late getting drinks together or safely tucked away at home, snoring in their beds. The nights are starting to get warmer but due to the fact that it’s a lovely Monday night, Grillby closes up shop an hour before midnight.

Being a good employee, Red has to stay and help clean up before he can go home for the night, often staying much later than he plans. The stocky skeleton gets to work by fully clearing off all the tables, wiping down and flipping the chairs, then fetches the vacuum to remove any mess that might have accumulated during open hours. His boss, on the other hand, is stationed in his office counting money and doing any necessary paper work for the night. As Red makes his way back through the kitchen, a rather loud crash sounds in Grillby’s office. Flinching hard, Red stops what he is doing to go investigate the noise. He pokes his head around the corner looking for any other source of noise in the kitchen but relaxes a little when he can hear the soft grumbles of his boss cussing.

“Yo boss, ya okay in there?” Red announces his presence before entering into Grillby’s office. Eye orbs scan the room and glance over to his boss’s desk. Turns out that Grillby just knocked a few items off his desk by accident and is crackling up a storm as he bends over to pick up his papers and books. The elemental doesn’t look up from his paper collecting operation to answer the skeleton. Got to love it when papers scatter everywhere on the floor.

“For a person who acts like they don’t really care, you seem to care a lot.” Grillby comments considering Red’ earlier actions. He then looks up slightly and cocks a slight brow at his skeletal worker over his glasses. Red’ face turns a few shades of crimson.

“Um, um. Sometimes I, Um…” Red stammers out, like he has been caught in a lie. Grillby cocks his brow harder and gives Red a stupid grin, while still looking over his glasses. Poor Red reacts by tugging on his shirt and lacing his fingers.

‘Fuck, fuCK, FUCK.’ Internal cussing, Red tries to think quickly. “I just can’t bear to watch others suffer okay. Back home, I made it a goal not to get involved with others so often I would have to turn a blind eye.” Moister beads down Red’s skull. “The only monster I got involved with was my brother, because I knew that if I didn’t, he would kick my ass later.” He explains. Grillby straitens his posture and face, looking down at Red but with a smile. “Just cause my little brother was Lieutenant of the Guard didn’t mean I couldn’t look out for him.”

“Is that why you offered Papyrus a place? Do you miss your brother?” Grillby inquires. Red shakes his head. This elemental crackles with confusion in response. One could say that he has a burning question. “Then why? You know he fears you.” Grillby asks again.

“Just about everyone does.” Red looks away, crossing his arms. “Do ya think I like that? Do ya think I get off on the fear? I come from a place where being scary was the norm, where the most harmless monster ya know here, killed there for fun. I know I give off bad vibes. I know I don’t look friendly, there’s nothing I can do about that.” The skeleton continues with his rant. “I thought that if I can show that I have a good side that others won’t fear me as much. Frisk doesn’t, or at least seems like he doesn’t. You two are the only ones.” Taking a breather, Red pauses balling his fists in frustration, then lets out a loud sigh.

“I finally get to talk to Toriel and the first thing she asks me is way my level of violence is so high.” Red manages to keep a cold collective voice, studying the floor. His crimson eye starts to burn again, anger causes his face to scrunch. “It’s so fuckin high because if I didn’ defend myself, I would be dust. My brotha would have been orphaned when we were little and he would have been kill’d off.” Easy Red, calm down. This skeleton tries to take another breath to control his emotions.

“I saw dat Papyrus was in trouble, so I offa some kindness. And what does fuckin Undyne fuckin do when I walk away!? She tries to talk him out of it, that’s fuckin what! I’s not deaf!” Crimson magic crackles around Red. This point, the dull white eye has dropped out of his socket and the crimson orb burns brightly. When Red gets to a boiling point with anger, his speech changes back to how it was when he was home, short and thuggish. Grillby stands there unfazed by Red’s display of anger, being used to it from months of working together. His boss is impressed though, usually at this point Red would have magic floating around him. Seems like his anger management classes are doing him some good.

“I try ta be nice and I get my teeth’s kicked in. It’s almost like home.” Red finishes his rant a dark chuckled, eye light still burning, along with steam coming out through clenched teeth, bright magic glows in his chest. Grillby still doesn’t move. He’s learned that this skeleton just has a lot of anger and none of its directed at him.

The skeleton has to walk away and return to the dark of the kitchen. He can’t blow up on his boss, never. Walking out of the office door to head into the back, Red returns to his kingdom of the back kitchen to push the last of his dishes through his trusty Hobart, that he’s had to fix a few times. In between cycles, the still steamy skeleton goes around the kitchen scrubbing off stove tops, cleaning old oil out the deep fryer vats, and pressure washes the floor with almost boiling water. More often than not, Red would usually use magic to expedite his endeavors, but however tonight that’s a bad idea. The chance of breaking something is high. Once the kitchen skeleton finishes up with his duties, he double checks around the work space finishing one last round and places the now clean pots and pans up in their rightful places. All the knives are in place, everything is good to go.

During Red’s adventure in the back kitchen, Grillby has come out of his office and is organizing his bar. Out of all the places Red has to clean, the bar is off limits. Grillby has a special method as to where he keeps his glasses and mixers.

Gathering his belongings, Red walks out of the kitchen with his coat in the crook of his arm. The skeleton walks up to the bar counter and taps his foot to gather the elemental’s attention. He finally looks up and tilts his head at Red.

“I can still come in at noon, correct?” Red asks him dryly, face devoid of any emotion, perma-grin looking hollow and dark. He waits for a reply from Grillby, who nods in return. “Later then.” Still dead pan, Red gives his good-bye and disappears in another puff of crimson smoke to return home.

The apartment is dark as a still angry skeleton makes it home in a dull flash, then rubs his droopy eye sockets with the balls of his hands. Red throws his coat down on the couch and angrily walks to his room. He considers slamming the door, but the neighbors downstairs will complain again, he then sets an alarm to wake up in time and crawls into bed.

The angry skeleton even considers going as far as to aggressively masturbate and rip one of his pillows apart to relieve frustration but decides against it. No need to clean up that mess later, plus it’s a pain to pick stuffing off the wall, along with dried magic. Poor Red decides that it’s better just to fall asleep and hope for the best.

‘Maybe Undyne talked Pap out of it.’ Allowing somber thoughts consume him, Red doesn’t bother to get up out of bed. All the skeleton just does is just takes off his clothes while laying down and frees the tail. Once that’s over, Red pats the floor by his bed for his phone cable.

Still though, it’s going to be nice to have somebody to chat with in the mornings. Maybe even he can even form a friendship. All this thinking of his new roommate makes this skeleton think about his lost brother and how much he misses him. Still having his phone in his clawed hands, Red taps through the transferred photos and smiles as he scrolls through some of the old pictures. It pains him to know how home sick this skeleton is really his and remembers the pain of watching his brother die still burns in his chest. Even though they acted like they hated each other, Red still cared for his brother. One taboo thing from back home makes Red die a little inside and that’s openly crying. The skeleton holds his phone tight to his chest and allows a few tears to roll down his face, giving him the chance to cry himself to sleep tonight. It’s not the first time but tonight, the skeleton dreams.

 A cold cloud of haze takes over. Red finds himself walking around and feels snow crunch up from under his boots. A rather baggy grey hoodie wraps his frame along with gloves on his small clawed hands along with torn brown pants to fit the boots. A small tail curls up around his leg in the wind. What is this place?

“RED! COME ON!” The hazy blanket starts to turn clear as Red searches around for the younger voice that called him. He feels a smaller figure grab the front of his hoodie and drag him along the path, growling and pulling.

“Paps, what do you want runt?” A large smile grows on Red’s face as looks down at the figure and pushes him away with one arm. Papyrus gets right back on top of his brother, grabbing him again with small hands.

“You said that you would teach me more about red attacks! I wanna know, I WANNA KNOW!” Papyrus is dragging him along now, his own little tail wiggling with speed, steam puffing out of the little skeleton’s jagged teeth. He’s even missing a few of them.  Annoying little brother lets go of his lazy larger one and becomes a blur of stripped fabric. The very strips that keep him safe.

“Oh, you are right! Here, have one.” Large malicious grin spreads on Red’s teeth. He tosses a red attack at Papyrus, who stops dead in his tracks allowing the bone to phase right though him. A massive grin spreads on the younger skeleton’s face with delight at the fact that it didn’t hurt.

“See, there. Those are red attacks.” Red then takes his turn to leave, giving his back to his younger more spastic brother. A little click of magic, another grunt and blur, Red gets clocked in the back of his skull with a weak bone attack. The older brother, of course, snorts steam and turns to find a laughing little brother. “GOT YA, BONE HEAD.” Papyrus boasts with pride.

“Fine then, you wanna battle? I’ll battle.” Opening his hands, Red throws more bones at his little brother; some white, some red. Using his speed, Papyrus manages to dodge all of his brother’s attacks, standing proud on a snow mound. Red snickers and turns his brothers soul a dark red to drops him onto the ground. Papyrus trips and face plants into the snow, chattering at his brother. It takes him a moment but he lifts his head up and spits out snow and dirt.

“NO FAIR YOU ASSHOLE! I DIDN’T ATTACK YET.” Papyrus yells, still wiping snow and dirt off his face. He then gets right back up on his feet and runs full speed at his brother. “It’s never gonna be fair.” Red growls, getting down low to brace for impact at the wiggly child.

The brothers fight and tussle for a food few moments, taking breaks and trading magic attacks. Red makes sure his brother knows how to at least summon a red attack before they return home for some hot food. That and before their father comes looking for them. Can’t be out too long, otherwise he’ll get worried and will have to leave work. Merciless angel protect you if you piss off the fire father.

“Come on Pap, we gotta head home.” Red turns to lead the duo back over to town. It seems like Papyrus isn’t finished. The little brother lets out a whimper and huff, crossing his arms.

“No, I want to play more.” Whinny little brother voice to the max.

“Come on bro, we need to go home! Don’t make me carry you.” Angry older brother growling. Tail flicking back and forth.

“Come on!” Red stomps back to grab Pap by the arm, who fights back in return. Paps summons magic by mistake and throws it right at Red’s face. The bone hits just above its targets teeth, giving a sick crack as it drops Red to the ground holding his face.

There’s is marrow everywhere as Red cries in immense pain. His attacker runs up to him in fear that he is going to beat him up again and yanks Red’ hands away from his face to see what kind of damaged he caused his brother. Red spits out a bloody tooth at Papyrus and snarls, marrow all over the ground.

“Ya damaged my fuckin face ya little pest! I’m gonna break ya arm for dis!” Broken tooth causing Red to angrily slur his words. The older skeletal brother then gets up to grab at his sibling, who gives him a twisted grin in return. He face distorts and shifts, causing the memory to turn into a twisted nightmare.

The blanket of haze returns, this time coating the world in blurs around Red and his environment changes. He is still in the snow with marrow on his hands, but this time he is a lot larger. So is Papyrus, who holds him by the fur on his hoodie. Both of their clothing has changed into black and gold blurs, along with an oily bubbling liquid. It’s hot and sticky. The twisted grin that was on Papyrus’ face begins to ooze black from his eye sockets as a large jagged smile splits up his face. Red looks on with horror as his sockets can’t peel away from the sight.

 “What’s the matter brother? Afraid of me?” Papyrus speaks with a double, demonic voice. It sounds like his child voice mixed with his adult. Red is finally able to shake his head and look away, blinking.

“No, never. Just a shock to see you. What do you want?” Irritation takes over Red’s voice. He was enjoying that memory, no matter how painful it was to lose the tooth. Papyrus pulls his brother up closer, to the point where hot bubbling tar splatters on Red’s face.

“Come on Red, don’t you miss me? It seems like you are replacing me with a look alike.” With that last sentence, Papyrus pushes his brother away and pulls him back, crashing his face into Red’s. His face crumbles to dust upon impact, leaving Red to sit there in the snow with thick dust surrounding the air and filling his mouth, making it hard to breathe.

Waking soaked in sweat, Red wakes to find himself tangled in bed sheets and on the floor. It takes him a moment but he manages to detangle himself and to do mental checks to see if he is awake. The poor skeleton shakes so hard his bones are rattling. He’s is wide awake now and positions himself to lay back on his bed. He searches for his phone, which happens to be under the sheets with him. He unlocks the screen and it reads 7:20 am. He groans, the battery is almost dead, then plugs the charging cable into his phone with a ‘ping’ since it didn’t get a chance to charge last night.

‘Whelp, I’m awake now… time to get up and ready. The new roomie will be here in less than an hour.’ Still groggy, this skeleton sighs and lifts himself up out of bed, then undresses. It takes him a moment but Red manages to locate some clean clothes… fuck he really needs to do laundry sometime this week. Maybe before his roomie gets here. Yea, that should be a good time.

Grabbing a clean pair of boxers and heading into the bathroom, Red turns on the facet for a hot shower to relax and steams the whole room up. Taking a little longer than he plans, Red steps out a clean and crimson flushed skeleton to reach over for his towel when he can dry off and return to his room. Only to find that his phone has a blinking light on its screen. Must be a message from Papyrus.

‘Good Moring!’ It reads. ‘I’ll be there soon. I hope you don’t mind, but Undyne wants to attend. She isn’t very comfortable with my choice, but she hasn’t really been helpful to me. See you soon and thank you again.’ Still damp skeleton closes the message app on his phone, bringing it back to the home screen, getting a glance at the clock; which reads 7:58 am. Red’s soul drops as fast as his phone to the surface of his bed. During the time Red tries to force clothes on his damp body, managing to only get on a thin under shirt, there is a sharp knock at his door.

“One moment.” Red yells with his rough voice he falls over with a thud trying to get his checkered work pants on. Being damp with stiff cloth doesn’t mix and Red eats hard wood floor. The skeleton quickly gets back his feet and is over at the door, feeling like he is forgetting something, tail flicks behind him in anticipation. Sharp toes click along the ground as Red rushes down the hall. He gathers his thin undershirt, stuffs it in his pants and opens the door for his guests, Papyrus and Undyne.

“Hi… Uh… Yea, come in…” Awkwardly standing back, Red opens the door further for his hopefully new roommate. Papyrus quickly enters, fur on a blue jacket flutters, along with straps on a back pack from behind. Undyne scans the apartment with a critical eye from the hallway and strides in the door, fins wiggle. Stocky skeleton just shuts the door with a huff and stuffs his hands in his pockets, following the duo into the living room.

“Mornin.” He mumbles with a nod of his head. Oh his chin hurts from eating hardwood, but the headache that’s about to come, this might break him.

“Good morning Red!” Papyrus replies in chipper voice, clearly a morning person, just like his brother. Undyne just grunts in response, she’s clearly not happy to be here.

‘Ugh, it’s too early for this.’ Red groans to himself internally, titling his skull back. This is going to be a long morning. Eye orbs roll and come to find Papyrus looking at him, looking his face over. The tall skeleton’s hands twitch like he wants to grab at Red but he stops. 

“We heard a thud, are you okay?” Papyrus questions him, getting closer, almost leaning down to get a look. “You have a mark on your chin.” Red reaches up to rub his chin and Papyrus is correct, its tender, but this one just shakes it off. “I’m find, don’t worry about me. Just a klutz, fell over trying to get pants on. All good fun.” This host shrugs, then snaps his figures, pointing around. “Right, tour.”

“This is the living room and kitchen. All the appliances are new.” Red waves an open palm to both living spaces and then around to the appliances that sit in open kitchen. In the middle of the room sits a dark wooden table that seems like it has seen better days. Papyrus walks over to it and rubs some of the deep groves with soft round fingers. Undyne gazes over it with a harsh eye, taking in all the scoring marks. Red walks up beside both of them with his hands back in his pockets.

“Yep, your eye’s don’t deceive ya. Some of those are, in fact, knife marks. My bro went through hormonal crazy teen phase and had an odd fascination with blades.  Don’t remember what that fight was about. All I know is I thought our father was going to burn the both of us, after we reshaped his knives.” Red nonchalantly shrugs off, grins wide. “All I know is that he jabbed that knife in between my radius and ulna on my left arm and had to fight him off from stabbing me again with my own bone attack.” Red walks up to the table and places his arm in the same location, mimicking the fight. “That was a good evening.” He finishes his story. For an added measure, Red lifts his left arm up and shows the gouges in his bones. Papyrus looks equally horrified as Undyne looks impressed.

“I’m also surprised this table hasn’t fallen apart yet. That was a tame interaction during that phase and it wasn’t the first time he tried to stab me. Remember, never antagonize a knife welding skeleton. He can move faster than you can imagine.” Red adds, chuckling to himself. “Onward.” He leads them to the living room, tail shaking from behind. Red seems to have a whole positive reaction talking about how his brother tried to stab him multiple times, which is horrifying Papyrus even more. Undyne gives their host another questionable look, like if whether or not this guy is safe to have around Papyrus.

In the living room, sits an old beat up couch. It’s covered in patches and scoring marks. Undyne finally has a comment to stay before Red has a chance to talk about this space. “Let me guess, the couch was hit in crossfire too?” She asks, lifting the brow above her good idea. Red nods with a wide smile. “However, the TV is new. I broke my old one.” He looks away with a grimace. Around the TV and stand, patches pepper the wall. One can only guess what happened. Now breaking out in a cold sweat, Papyrus starts to look worried. Undyne goes to comment once again on the patches but Red interrupts her by redirecting their attention to the hall.

Leading the duo into the hall, tail still flicking behind with each step, both Undyne and Papyrus finally get a good look at their host from behind. That’s new. Neither of them have seem the tail before and Undyne starts to wonder what else this skeleton is hiding; who just takes them down a tiny hall. Before coming to a halt, another detail sticks out about Red. Through the thin undershirt, the duo can see that his spine and body gel, and along with that, horrible scars from the past litter one of his shoulder blades, along with fine little lines. Undyne bounds up closer but before she has a chance to look, Red spins around and stops. He looks a little confused but Undyne plays it off like he was walking too slow and scowls. Papyrus is right behind on the short trip.

Behind Red sits five doors, two of which share a nook. This space is big enough to hold two monsters at one time. “We are lucky, this is the laundry room.” Red leans over and opens the farthest door on his right. Inside holds a small washer and dryer combo, along with a rack of clothes that are waiting to be moved. Red then takes a step back, blocking the door that is closest to the laundry room with his body.

“That’s my room. We aren’t going in there.” Then turning his attention. “This would be your room.” Red then switches to the other arm to point at the next door. He opens the door with a snap of clawed fingers. Magic crackles and the door opens, a light switch flips and the room lights up to reveal a small tidy space that looks like it never really been used. Dust covers its surfaces and in it sits a dinky bed, dresser, and night stand. There is a tiny closet in the wall that the door is on.

Taking his cue, Papyrus walks in the small room and looks around. He looks back at Red, gives him a happy smile and nods, practically bouncing up and down. Using the same arm, Red points to the door that is beside soon to be Papyrus’ new room. “This is the bathroom. Shower, toilet, sink. Simple enough.” Wondering over, Red sticks his arm in the bath room to click off the vent fan, then places his hand on the last remaining door. “And last but not least, this is the linen closest. Very simple.”

Passing by Undyne, Red walks back into the living room. The duo behind soon follow. “So, any questions?” Half expecting Papyrus to tell him no, Undyne pipes up first, fins flick back onto her head and hair.

“Yeah, how safe is this place? It’s kinda shady.” In almost a sneer, Undyne glares right at Red, who looks rather surprised at that question and then laughs, hard. It takes him a moment to come down from his giggle fit, eye sockets tearing up.

 “If anybody gives you any trouble in this building, tell ‘em that ya a friend of mine. They’ll stop.” Undyne gives Red a doubting look at his response. He gives her a cynical toothy smile in return. “Don’t worry, this buildings landlord comes to me if there is a big issue. She is a really nice gal and takes money off my rent when I help.”

Fish lady still doesn’t look pleased at her skeleton host, who just shrugs it off. Papyrus finally has a question and perks up at the quiet moment. “Speaking of which, how much would I own you a month?” Tall skeleton tilts his head in worry, voice a little soft. Small beads of moisture gather on his bonebrow, poor Papyrus taps his fingers together hoping for the best.

Red turns to him, tail shakes in response, almost like he can sense it. “My rent is about eight hundred a month? Yea… You would owe me four hundred, due the last Wednesday of the month for our floor.” Red quickly raddles off, wiggling his fingers up in the air. Papyrus perks up, eagerly nodding. Eye sockets glow with magic, crackling orange.

“I can do that, yes! I would very much like to become your roommate.” Papyrus eagerly states, smiling wide. That gives Red a moment to head over to his kitchen to search for the spare key on the counter. Pawing under the papers, Red locates it and walks back over to the excited skeleton.

“Hold out ya hand.” Red explains with a slight smile as he lifts up a balled fist over to Papyrus, who then takes it with an eager open palm. Clawed hands open, a small key falls and Papyrus clings onto Red in a flash, who has to bite back a yelp at the sudden movement. Undyne stares Red down with a threating look of ‘you better treat him with kindness from behind Papyrus. All Red can do is give a sneer back. ‘Bitch think she can threaten me. HA.’

Down the hall, in a flash, Papyrus streaks to go place his bag down with a glassy ‘chunk’ on his bed. Red still stands dumb founded at the sheer speed that this taller skeleton can move. It’s incredible, and so much like his own brother. Not as stealthy but damn close. Might have to keep his door closed to prevent any unwanted attention. Finally coming to his senses, and giving his skull a good shake, Red peers down the hall to see Papyrus remove a jar, the same jar from the party, and place it on the night stand along with Undyne the fish bitch standing next to him. He cocks a bonebrow at the jar and his perma grin turns to a somber one. There isn’t time for somber thoughts, Red shakes if off. He looks to the clock that is on the stove to find that it’s only 9:22am. Eye sockets widen, it’s too early for this shit, yeesh.

Being up this early, Red decides that its time to find something to eat. Some toast and a glass of milk will do for the time being. The lone skeleton grabs ahold the half bag of bread sitting on his counter next to the stove. Opening it and digging in, Red places two pieces in the toaster and pushes the lever down. He closes the bag, throws it back on the counter and opens the fridge. Using magic, the skeleton pulls a plastic cup out from the dish strainer and over into his hand. He carefully pours himself some milk and returns it to its rightful place in the fridge. Red then moves from the fridge back over to the counter to silently wait on his toast, all the while taking rather conservative sips from his milk. If he strains to hear in between the very soft clicking of the toaster timer and the rest of the morning apartment tents routines, he can hear Undyne hushed tones to Papyrus, which sounds rather heated.

This crimson skeleton chuckles to himself as he waits on his morning meal. The toast finally pops with a ding and his full attention turns over to the sound. Even though the toast is rather hot, Red plucks it from the toaster with claws and enjoys his simple breakfast making munching noises for his own entertainment. A door opens and a rather flushed Undyne stomps down the hall, slowing down enough to make eye contact with Red. She gives him the same harsh look as before and storms out of his apartment. A loud snort of laughter sounds of out Red in return, then goes for his other, much colder piece of toast.

An exasperated ‘Nyeh’ shortly follows after and a tall skeleton appears in the living room kitchen area. Papyrus frowns to find that Undyne is already gone and gives a long sigh as response. Red can’t help but chuckle at his new roommate, just about scaring the marrow out of his tall guest.

“Heh, why the long face? Now that your mommy is gone, there are a few other things that we need to go over. Few rules if you will.” Red begins, turning to the fridge for another cup of milk. Papyrus scoffs at the mother comment, catching Red’s attention.

“Oh, come now. Don’t tell me that you didn’t see the way she was acting. Anyway.” Red brushes the interaction off. “The one thing that is left is house rules. These are simple.” The crimson skeleton starts by holding up his hand to count off his rules.

“One: What I say is final. Two: Clean up after yourself. If you are anything like my brother, this will never be an issue; He was a compulsive clean freak. Three: No jacking off on the couch. Trust me, I’ll know. No matter how hard you try to clean it up, I will always find out. Four: If it’s in the fridge and doesn’t have your name on it, it becomes free game.” Red then looks Papyrus right in the sockets. “It’s that easy and we will get along just fine.” He crosses his arms and gives a neutral toothy smile.

Turning to walk away, Red still wracks his brain to see if he missed anything. It dons on him, this skeleton is social. “Oh, and Five: Guests are welcome. Please ask if you want them to say over, this is my house too.” Stocky skeleton adds his last and final comment to the rules. Papyrus just nods in agreement seeing as he wants to live here, but a nagging thought enters the back of his head. ‘What is he getting himself into? And why was Red hiding a tail?’ What’s the deal with his new roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, did that turn a little adult? Pfft, whatever. You're on the internet, you can handle it.


	4. Moving Moring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions flair up a bit and Papyrus moves in.

Giving his new roommate a chance to settle, Red departs the kitchen so he can go finish his own morning routine. Papyrus follows behind to return to his new room, to unpack what remains in his bag that sits on the bed and to study the lay out of his new location. It’s kinda dark in here but with a look of determination on his face, Papyrus knows what he has to do.

Returning to Red, who puts on socks and non-slip shoes, he’s finally dry enough to slip on his chiefs’ jacket; Now he’s ready to go into work, which doesn’t start for almost three hours. Three hours that he could be asleep! The stocky skeleton walks out of his room, then enters the hall, tail flicking from behind. He turns to the left to check in on Papyrus, who isn’t making any noise. Odd, he was excited a moment ago.

Sitting on the bed hunched over with his hands in his face, moister dripping down his long arms, Papyrus is quietly sobbing in the dark all alone. Looks like the crash hit. Well this is unsightly, Red will fix this as he walks closer to his roommate’s door and gives a soft knock, announcing his presence. Papyrus on the other hand freezes in place and looks up with squinted eyes. Face is tinted orange, stained with fat tears. This tall skeleton sniffs and crosses his arms in his lap, trying to pay no mind to his emotions. Red casually strides over and sits next to him on the bed, mattress sinking giving the fat skeleton’s weight away, allowing Papyrus another moment without any noise. The jar on the nightstand catches Red’s attention and he gives a slow sigh.

“Dude, it’s going to be okay.” The tougher skeleton begins. Papyrus doesn’t straighten up right away but turns his head to look at the demented shadow of his brother. “I know it’s hard dealing with a loss when nobody else understands what it feels like. One moment they are there, fine and talking, then the next they’re gone and you are stuck trying to pick up the pieces. The hopelessness is hard to get over, but the pain never really goes away. Friends try to offer empathy but it doesn’t bring your brother back.” Diverting his gaze, Red looks down at the floor, wall, anywhere. Papyrus looks at him with all the empathy he has and a clear quizzical look on his face.

“Being stabbed in the soul like that takes a long time to get over, but go outside and enjoy the sky while you can. Do it for him, cause I know he would do it for you.” Finally finished with his tiny speech, Red looks Papyrus right in the eye sockets and gives him a soft smile. Taller skeleton twitches in his place. Shoulders quiver, arms shake. Looks like Papyrus really wants to comfort the fell. Red just gives him a flat look in return.

“Make it quick, not really a fan of contact.” Crimson skeleton lies, but his roommate doesn’t need to know this just yet and doesn’t need to be told a second time. Papyrus moves quickly, his long arms are around Red before he can object. He sobs into a thick shoulder for a few moments and hugs tighter, finally letting go after watching Red’s tail flick and shake.

Fat tears still streak down Papyrus’ face. Even though he doesn’t say it, Red knows that he is thanked by the taller skeleton. Ugh, emotions. Taking a moment to check his phone once freed, Red pulls his little device out of his pocket, clicks one of the side buttons and the screen lights up with the clock: it reads 9:45am. A low groans escapes him and Papyrus gives his new roommate a questionable look.

“It’s 9:45. I’ve got to go in at Noon. Fuck!” Red clenches his fists in the air and shakes them in an overly dramatic motion, finally getting a chuckle out of Papyrus. Bingo, the stocky skeleton gets a rather large smirk on his face. In a small, almost painful flash, Papyrus recognizes this look and narrows his eye sockets at him. Red looks hurt, but continues on, smile growing more sinister as the moment goes on.

“What? Can’t take any Pun-ishments? I would gladly serve out some dish-tasteful jokes.” Red chuckles out. His crimson eye light flickering playfully.  Papyrus gets up and stomps off with a loud groan. “Aw, where you going?” Red gets up to follow, tail flicking playfully from behind. A weird urge to torment his roommate takes over him, but before he gets out of the room, the jar on the nightstand catches his attention. He stares at it for a long moment, eye sockets squint and glare, almost feeling like there is another in the room. An odd chill runs up Red’s short spine and tail, doesn’t need another ghost from the past haunting this place.

“Oh uh, Papyrus, when do you need to move your stuff in by?” Red calls down the hall, trying to locate his new roommate, that’s just standing in the kitchen taking in the sight. More so of the table and its wicked scars. This taller skeleton rubs his hand down the groves.

Papyrus doesn’t turn to face him, but instead mumbles out a “tomorrow.” It’s full of sorrow from the tall skeleton. Red makes a grimace and rubs the back of his skull. “If you have any heavy lifting and if it doesn’t take long to return to your old apartment, I can teleport some things here for you.” He pauses with the offer, waiting on Papyrus. The taller skeleton finally looks over to the shadow. He’s being so nice! Maybe the folks around town are wrong about Red.

“What do you have to move?” Red asks again, this time slightly more irritated at the lack of response. Finally Papyrus stops to think.

“Some clothes, a few small things and a twin mattress.” Counting off his fingers, Papyrus looks depressed. Guess he really did sell off everything. Red considers patting him on the back for a moment, but doesn’t allow more contact. He might look like his brother, but he will never replace him. The nightmare sends a shiver down his spine.

“Alright, let’s head off then.” Pushing past, Red taps his pockets, checking for wallet, keys and phone. Papyrus is right behind him and gets a good spot on the tail, a burning question he wants answered before the day is out. A quick moment before departing, the stocky skeleton also makes a mental map of the living room so he can teleport objects back, then is quickly out of the door. The taller skeleton is right behind him. He gently glides the door closed and it locks on its own. Together, they both travel down the three flights of stairs and out two sets of double doors, exiting into the outside world.

After some quick chatter, turns out that Papyrus doesn’t live far from here, only five blocks, the duo spend the rest of the time talking. For both, it’s to see the similarities between the brothers. Papyrus inquiries about Underfell. Red explains that it was not a friendly place. Life there was cruel and cold. Just about every day had a fight. Red asks about this world. How long did it take to be freed? Did the humans fight back?

Much to his confusion, it was over the course of a day for the monsters to be freed from the underground. It’s almost like the human knew what to say, but to Papyrus, that meant living in the sun light so he didn’t think much of it. The taller skeleton also made an off handed comment about Red and his brother getting along. Red muttered something along the line of ‘oh fuck no, we wouldn’t.’

It takes Papyrus a while but he managed to muster up the courage to ask Red how he got here, which results in the form of a loud sigh from the crimson skeleton, along with a tail flick. “Fine, you wanna know? Let’s see, I built a device that was designed to go in between parallel worlds, or alternate universes if you will. Better known to the ones that I met along the way as Au’s.”

“Back at home, I was on the science team and was tasked by our king to find a way past the barrier without the need of human souls. It was pretty large at first and worked pretty well but I was working on a way to make it smaller and more stable, and was almost finished with it until….” Gritting his sharp teeth as a growl bubbles its way up, Red angrily flicks his tail left and right while only his left eye burning bright. Grim thoughts return to Papyrus as he takes a step away, trying to figure out why Red is getting so mad. The shorter skeleton clenches his fists and takes a deep breath trying to relax. Both of the eye lights return and the tail shaking calms down.

“Until what? What made you stop?” Papyrus asks. Mistake. The burning returns from the stocky. “Alphys.” Red grinds his teeth together again, sounding awful due to the golden tooth that sits in his mouth as steam escapes out of his nose. “All the top scientists were competing for the Royal Scientist position. Whoever had the best invention and that could impress Over Lord Asgore, got the position. I almost had it. I was ALMOST FUCKIN FINISHED.” Red balls his fists. “But that bitch comes in with Mettaton.” He says in a mocking voice, high pitched voice.

Papyrus perks at the mention of Mettaton, his favorite actor and good friend. He seems a little distracted at the thought of Red having a rather strong disliking of his friend. “But Mettaton is a cool bot. Alphys gave him life!” Taller skeleton defends his robotic friend. That along puts a huge evil smile on Red’s pointed teeth.

“Oh. You’s think dat… Heh hehehe.” Red chuckles, tapping his fingers to his teeth. He looks at Papyrus with a rather large nefarious grin, accent turning thuggish once again. “You’s don’t know dat Mettaton isn’t a true bot? He is a ghost in a bots body. It’s a scam.” The loud snort from Red puts a hollow look in Papyrus’ small sockets. He looks dishearten in his new roommate and he gives the demented skeleton a look of ‘Why? Why would you do that?’ Red just returns with a wicked look in his eyes.

“I want to change the subject now.” Papyrus mumbles, crossing his arms and looking away. Red chuckles some more. “Next time you’s see Mettaton, call him Happstablook. Sees how fast he short circuits.” Papyrus still looks with horror.

“So why did you come here?” Papyrus asks, desperately trying to change the subject. Red’s grin changes to sorrow and he has to look away. Feeling a little horrible at the sudden mood change, Papyrus gives Red a questionable look and goes to apologize. The once angry skeleton replies before he has a chance. “The human took my family from me. That’s all you need to know. New subject, **now.** ”

That wasn’t a request but Papyrus looks on dumbfounded. He has to know. No way a gentle soul like his friend could do such a thing.

“How could Frisk do that? He would never hurt a soul.” Red scowls at that comment. There is clearly so much he doesn’t know about Frisk. One tail shake later, Red turns his head to face the tall skeleton and smirks, trying to erase the moment of weakness.

“My world is different, remember? One could argue that he was defending himself. It’s true, every monster down there tried to take a chunk out of him, even the kids. Though, I thought that was the cause until I scoured the underground and couldn’t find a soul. That kid was thorough.” Red pauses a moment and brings a hand up to his chest. Even though the scar is old, he can almost still feel the sting. “The human slashed my chest open and left me to die. Passed out due to the pain, marrow everywhere. Woke up I don’t know how much longer after but everything was quiet. The light in the hall just before the throne room was dark. When I finally gathered the strength to stand, I headed to the next room to find a pile of dust in trampled flowers, crown smashed. That’s all you need to know.” Red looks away, eye lights gone. He straightens out his clothes and the stubby wiggly tail from behind shakes, catching the taller skeleton’s attention. Who finally musters up the courage to ask.

“So, um, you’re the first skeleton monster I’ve ever seen with a tail.” Burning question, Papyrus wants to know more. He strides up closer to Red, who goes wide sockets and desperately tries to stuff the tail back in his short but ends up yelping in pain when it bends the wrong way. Smooth dude.

“Nah, don’t know what you mean.” And it begins. The one thing Red doesn’t want to talk about. More so than his past or how he got here. Deep down, he silently prays that Papyrus doesn’t push it, but something else says otherwise.

“I saw an odd scar on your back at the apartment. Come on, you can tell me anything.” With a large smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, Papyrus gives the best reassuring tone he can give to the hostile monster, who just growls in response.

“I said no. Don’t know what you are talking about. And we gonna leave it at dat pap.” Starting to fume once again, Red steps forward on shorter legs and walks faster, clearly not happy. “Are we almost there?” This shorter skeleton still tries to ignore the change of topic. Papyrus just hums a no and the pair walk in silence until they get to their destination.

The duo reach Papyrus’ old apartment and climb two sets of stairs, much to Red’s disdain. The taller skeleton lived in the last apartment down the hall on the second floor, a long enough distance to give a wheezing skeleton a chance to catch his breath. During their trek down the long hall, a few doors slam signaling his neighbor’s emotions on the taller skeleton. The harsh feeling in the air could choke out a moose. One thing that Red noticed is that Papyrus door seems to be newer than the rest in the hall.

This skeleton duo walking into the clean apartment after Papyrus unlocks the front door. This apartment is larger than the one Red has, much larger. Walking in a looking around, and right after a quick order from Papyrus, Red starts his own hunt for the remaining items in the apartment. In the kitchen sits a lone pot on top of the counter, it’s bound with tape on the top. Red goes to lift the chuck of metal and it’s much heavier than it looks. Damn. It must be packed full. Waddling over with the heavy object, Red places it in the empty living room and turns to follow Papyrus down to his old room.

 They walk down a hall and pass a few doors, all seeming rather new and freshly installed. Even the paint in the hall is fresh. Papyrus makes it to his room first, enters and strides over to his two crates, duffle bag, large suitcase and a mattress pile. Raising a bonebrow, Red figures that he sold off everything else. With them being so close to the mountain, Papyrus didn’t really have to worry about not having a home, but Red figured it wouldn’t be the same. He remembers returning home after his own died and how their home felt like an emotionless void.

Time to get to work. Both Red and Papyrus do a last minute check and gather all the remaining objects around the apartment. All that’s left is the pot from the kitchen and a few toiletries; the remaining create a small pile.

“Do you want to carry any of this, or should I teleport it?” Finally after no sound for a while, Red breaks the silence with a question. Papyrus wordlessly nods in return, sockets full of fat tears. Good, less work for this fat skeleton to do, no way in hell was he going to carry any of this the five blocks back home if he doesn’t have too.

Crimson eye light shining bright, Red preps to use magic. “Stand back.” He warns in an echoed voice. Papyrus responds by standing over to the far wall and waits for his roommate to teleport, who lifts his arms, creating shimmering crimson magic as smaller items lift up off the floor. They float and disappear with a crimson blink.

“Be right back.” With his own puff, Red disappears back home to his apartment. The smaller items sit in the hall, ready to be put away. Okay, mattress time. An idea pops into Red’s skull. He pushes the couch back closer to the tv and mentally measures the exposed area. Should be just the right size.

Returning in another puff, Red finds Papyrus gone from the room. With a moment to himself, Red checks the time on his phone and it reads 10:57am; seems like they are making excellent time. This stocky skeleton ventures out of Papyrus’ old room to find that one of the doors in the hall was opened and spots his target sitting in the middle of a dark room staring at the ceiling. Wow that’s not creepy. It sends a shiver down Red’s shorter spine and his tail flicks under his belly.

“Pap? Come on, time to go.” Red calls to him. Turning to face him, Papyrus looks wide and for a second looks like he has seen a ghost. He stands and rubs more tears away with the balls of his hands. For a moment, Red almost feels sorry for him, but feeling sorry for this taller skeleton isn’t going to change what happened. Time to move on.

“This was his room. I found what was left of him in his bed.” Papyrus looks down, tears beginning to drip from his sockets. He looks back up at Red and continues his story, who internally groans and holds a straight face. “Frisk came over the night before and my brother helped him with homework. I had to go to bed early that night due to an early opening shift the next day at the café down the street. I just don’t understand. He was find one moment and the next I find what’s left of him in the morning.” Finished with his story, Papyrus weeps in his hands. Red, on the other hand, chuckles darkly at a thought. This sounds too fishy. It could also be from that the fact that this skeleton doesn’t trust the ground the fallen child walks on. Unknown to his roommates thought, Papyrus narrows his eyes at him and grits his smooth teeth. Unfazed, Red shrugs and explains.

“Sometimes you aren’t meant to understand the world. Imagine if your brother told you that there were alternate universes where the outcomes of actions are different and that you had access to those. Hell, my brother would’ve hit me if you or your own ended up in my home world, if I didn’t get to you first.” Red explains himself with a dark glance, causing Papyrus to shrug and walk back out of the room. Following behind, Red tries to bound up and lift a hand. He balls his fist and stops.

“Come on. We need to take a break from all this weeping emotional bullshit. It’s freaking me out. Let’s get the mattress back to my home and you can do one final check.” It’s time to get the final object out of the room, Papyrus nods at Red’s request. Finally manning up, Red pats Papyrus on the back rather harshly and mumbles. “If ya need somebody to talk to… I’m here okay?” It’s clear but mumbled. The fell is trying damn it. Papyrus smiles softly in return and heads over to his room with Red. One step at a time.

In another puff of crimson, Red returns home again as he dumps the mattress in the living room, then quickly returns to help preform one final check and lock up. Papyrus has to depart from Red as it’s time to return his keys and sign final paper work. Hoping for the best, he figures that it’s best to get it done early. Red on the other hand, checks the time once again and has to depart. They say their goodbyes and the stocky skeleton leaves alone once again in the apartment.

Spending the rest of his day at work, which is rather dull but normal, Red works slightly faster with a pep in his step. It might just a normal dull day to the untrained eye, but when Red gets to return home, he has somebody waiting on him.

A slight smile starts to overtake Red’s teeth as he talks about how he has a new roommate with Grillby and at times, a huge grin that is sincere for once spreads across sharp points. He hasn’t been happy for long while, even though he would never show it, or at least try not to, two white eye lights appear in Red’s sockets replacing the harsh crimson orb that’s always present.

The long day passes just the same and once closing routines are finished, Red scrubs his arms off to go home. He says his farewells to Grillby and departs from the restaurant from out back after dropping off the last of his many bags of trash for the night.

Once past the large dumpsters, Red gets the odd prickle of being stalked.  He looks around questioning his surroundings. Some idiot dares to stalk a predator? It’s almost laughable until Red locates the monster in the area that’s bothering him; Undyne. She has looks that could kill and disappears into the darkness once she figures out that she’s been noticed. It just causes Red to lift a bonebrow in response and confusion.

‘Is she trying to scare me? I don’t scare bitch.’ Shrugging off the interaction, Red decides to forgo the walk home. This skeleton is having a good day damn it and doesn’t want pettiness to ruin it. With a quick teleport to his apartment buildings hall, and not wanting to spook Papyrus too badly, no matter how funny it would be, Red doesn’t want to scare his new tenet just yet. A jingle of keys later, the skeleton unlocks his door and enters into the dark apartment. There is a little light on, one in the kitchen and below it is a small container. The smell coming from it perks Red’s attention as he stalks over. A bead of drool already streaks down the side of his face. He didn’t realize how hungry his is until now.

 On top of the container sits a small a note. Red promptly picks the note and container up. Smells like pasta of some kind, and reads the note before taking a seat.

‘Red.’ It reads, clearly from Papyrus. ‘I made us dinner. Didn’t know when you were going to get back from work.’ Red looks up from the note to read the clock on the stove. Half past midnight. With a grimace, Red continues to read. ‘I hope you enjoy.’ Hun, simple enough.

Finally, Red can enjoy the meal in peace. He places the note down on one of the counter tops in the kitchen and opens the container. Inside sets spaghetti.

Of course it’s spaghetti. That causes a large smile to crack up Red tired face and he has to fight himself to stay quiet after laughing. Things never change.

Hobbling over to pull a clean fork out of the dish strainer by the sink, Red then goes to take a seat at his spot at the table. He just about smacks himself in the face with an open palm and pushes himself back out to gather the still warm container of pasta, along with tenant agreement papers. Might as well get this over with.

Taking a bite of the food, Red about gags at the taste. Oh stars, he forgot that a classic Papyrus can’t cook worth a shit. However, this fell has a dark secret and will eat maggot infested dead things from the side of the road, this is nothing compared to that. A pleasant thought pops in Red’s head; he might just have to teach this one a thing or two about cooking. From what he can tell, if shown the right direction, a Papyrus will bloom on his own. Just needs a gentle push.

Turning his attention back to the food, Red takes a bite in-between writing down information. He figures it’s best to get this paperwork started. During his form filling out adventure and dinner, Red falls asleep right at the table. A task he’s done many a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woowe, I'm still alive. Hot damn does this one read better. Well, 4 down. 13 more to go!!!
> 
> Little did Red know that his author is a gross kustard shipper and that he would get alone with classic sans just fine. maybe find him in his bed but sadly, that is another time.


	5. Breakfest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First breakfast together.

It’s in the wee hours of the morning in the skeletal house hold and rather tall skeleton creeps down the hall to get himself a glass of water. This skeleton doesn’t know when his new roommate made it home, just that it’s really early in the am and he doesn’t want to disturb him.

Grasping has his cup from earlier in the night, poor Papyrus is having trouble sleeping. He decided that some water could help his dry throat and with a quick wonder down the hall, he finds Red asleep at the table, food gone and snoring away. A soft grin over takes his long face and soft steps approach the wider sleeping skeleton. In a moment, Papyrus stands over Red and spots a form under his clawed hand. The top reads ‘Tenant Agreement’. That puts a fresh smile on Papyrus teeth. ‘He must be adding me to the lease since I’m his new roommate!’ Papyrus smile grows wider at the thought, but a glance down at the sleeping form causes the tall skeleton to turn his attention.

Bent over at a harsh angle, a sleeping Red looks a little odd to the eye. It might be the light casting a shadow on his face, but darker lines take over. Was there another fight at the bar tonight? He could swear that his nasal bones have split open to his forehead. Oh well, he just shakes it off as his eyes playing tricks on him. It dreads this skeleton that his roommate enjoys fighting and doesn’t quite help his ‘nice guy’ case.

Usually upon finding a sleeping skeleton at the dinner table, Papyrus would carry his brother back to his room, but this time, Red is too large for him to pick up. This edgy skeleton would also flinch every time his taller roommate touched him. A decision is made and Papyrus decides to poke Red awake. The position that he is in must be killer on his spine and the hidden tail up under his clothes. Papyrus still can’t understand why Red doesn’t want to talk about that but he must have his reasons and those reasons are to be respected.

“Red, Red. Wake up.” Papyrus stars by shaking a thicker shoulder. Red stirs from a stupor and blinks his eye sockets. Crimson magic casts across the table for a moment and then go back out. “Fuck off Boss. Go bother the fish bitch.” A sleepy Red mumbles. Papyrus is caught off guard to that response.

With a cocky grin, the look alike decides he is going to mimic the other’s brother, or at least try too. Mustering up his intent, Papyrus shoves harder and says in the meanest and harshest voice he can muster. “Get up lazy bones. Your bed is down the hall.” Voice cracking, Red finally lifts his head. A crimson angry orb stare back at Papyrus, who He tenses up at the glare. It quickly turns to a spark of lazy amusement and Red lets out a lazy chuckle.

“Heh, nice try. My bro would have shoved me out of the seat.” Red yawns. He straitens up with multiple pops and looks down at his hands. By some small miracle he didn’t drool on the papers, bless.

“Oh, I need you to sign this.” Red then hands Papyrus a pen from off the table and pushes the papers over to him. Papyrus takes it and signs his name on the paper, making a mental note that even Red’s last name is even different. Instead of Serif its Ignis.

Finally the exchange is over and Red snorts with content as he scoots out from his spot. He sleepily rocks back and forth for a sec, getting his balance back, then plucks the empty container to take over to the empty sink. A quick faucet turn later, the container fills with water for easer cleaning. Papyrus also fills his cup in the stream of water and turns the water off. Still sleepy, Red leaves the papers sprawled out on the table and stumbles over to his own room, Papyrus follows from behind. It’s more to catch his staggering roommate as a just in case. Not even bothering to close his own door, Papyrus gets a glimpse of Red dropping clothes just before flopping into his messy bed, letting sleep take over his mind once more. Tail stands up and then wiggles for a moment, going limp. It gets a slight chuckle from Papyrus has he enters his own room. Finally he can fall asleep knowing that he isn’t alone and for the first time in a few weeks, it’s the best sleep that this taller skeleton has had.

The next morning Papyrus wakes bright and early, then scampers out of his room. Red’s door is still open and he can spot the sleepy skeleton inside but other than that, Red kinda made it clear during yesterday’s tour that he doesn’t want guests in his room. To pass the time, Papyrus gets into everything. He opens and closes all the cabinets to locate and put away all the utensils and plates, along with what he brought. Then wiggles over to the entertainment center. It houses a nice tv and a few movies. There’s even a book self with space next to it! Yes, this is perfect. Wait, what’s this?

Eye sockets spot a rather old beat up book on the shelf as soft finger tips gently pull it out. The colors are faded, the cover torn and covered in bite marks but the message is still clear; Peek A-boo With Fluffy Bunny. That almost causes a tear to fall from the tall skeleton. Things aren’t so different after all.

As the morning turns over, Papyrus decides that for his first act of being a new roommate, he will cook breakfast for the both! So exciting! With a pep in his set, Papyrus moves over into the kitchen and gets to work. He creates gentle noise, mixing and gathering his required items. Cooking causes a slight smell to waft through out the apartment and down the hall to an open door.

Waking to the smell of food in the kitchen, Red opens his tired sockets and pushes himself, back is protesting in pain. A few snaps and pops later, Red is sitting up in his bed and lifts his arms up high. He yawns wide and listens down the hall. A slight cuss later since he left is door open, this groggy skeleton can hear speech down the hall. It’s must be Papyrus, who seems to be having a one sided conversation.

“Must be on the phone. Probs Undyne.” Red mumbles while rubbing the back of his head. Well Papyrus sounds very happy. Deep down, Red is glad too but not ecstatic as his new roommate that doesn’t have to return to the underground.

Tail shakes and flicks across the bed, Red finally gets up to force, hopefully, clean clothes on and has to blink to check the time; 8:27am. Just enough time to linger, perfect. Pocketing the phone, Red leaves his room, and enters the hall. He somehow sneaks down the tiny hall and pokes his head out around the corner, finding that Papyrus has his back turned, facing the stove. Tail shake, Red notices his roommate is focused on his conversation and the creation of breakfast, then looks to the table and finds that there are two places set at the table, one at both ends.

‘Papyrus is making waffles? Where did he get a waffle iron?’ Red is confused, but he is getting food. He doesn’t care, as long as it doesn’t taste like the spaghetti from last night, Red will gladly force it down.

Putting a fist up to his face, Red holds in his chuckle and coughs lightly. Sounds like the conversation is starting to turn south, ending promptly with Papyrus hanging the phone up with a huff and places it on the counter. The phone in Red’ own pocket buzzes and he ducks around the corner to find out who it is. Screen unlock, looks like a random number. Not his issue.

“Red?” Papyrus calls out, clearly hearing the phone buzz. Shit, he’s been caught. Red pops his head back out around the corner and gives a weak greeting, showing off his golden tooth.

“I heard you on the phone. Didn’t want to disturb you.” Finally, the fat skeleton comes out from behind his corner tail flicking from behind. Papyrus shakes his head in humor and returns to the waffles. Soon a fresh one is popped out of the hot iron and more batter is poured in.

“Undyne?” Red blurts out, causing Papyrus to sigh loudly.

“She only cares and thinks that I’m making a mistake. She doesn’t trust you but won’t say it.” This tall skeleton’s response is full of irritation, giving Red a reason to chuckle in return. Red finally moves into the kitchen and locates the papers from last night. They sit on the counter in a neat pile on top of his mound of mail. Grabby hands reach and Red darts back to his room for safe keeping. He then quickly returns to the kitchen to find a stack of waffles on the table along with syrup. Smells amazing! Papyrus has his own pile and gestures for Red to join, who happily obeys.

The duo enjoy breakfast together, talking about everything and nothing. Papyrus quickly finds out that this Red’s brand of humor is dark. Like black out the sun dark, horrifying the new roommate at all the dead baby jokes. The faces Papyrus makes causes Red to laugh harder, making him to choke on food a few times. It gets to a point to where Papyrus has to plead for him to stop. This is worse than the puns.

Good news for Papyrus, Red has to stop anyway. This dark skeleton can’t linger too much longer, getting ready for work is important. A quick wash, and some snickering in joke afterglow, Red rinses the dishes. Papyrus gets to work picking up the table. Nothing remained of his pile of waffles. If Papyrus didn’t eat them, Red did. This chubby skeleton seems to be a little greedy with food. Papyrus just chalks that up to not being used to sharing.

Once he’s finished with washing dishes, Red goes to hop into the shower. Unlike Papyrus who has the rest of the week off, Red needs to get a move on. He did mention something along the lines of departing a little earlier than normal to drop off his revised tenant agreement papers to his landlord, and he also wants drags Papyrus along so that his landlord can meet him.

The landlord is an older human that Red talked highly of and during his hot shower, Papyrus gets back into his room to wiggle some clean clothes on for the day. He’s excited to meet this new human and bounces on the couch while waiting for his overweight roommate to finish up. Red explained that she’s a really nice gal and wants his roommate to have a friend. It’s no fun living alone.

A door opens and another one closes. Red’s finished! One step closer! Practically vibrating on the couch, Papyrus watches the hall and waits. He counts the moments in his head to when Red appears, all clean and ready to go. Papyrus then bounces up off the couch and grabs ahold of Red’s sleeve to drag him out the front door. Of course, Red snorts at the interaction but deals with it all the same. His roommate isn’t crying anymore so that’s a plus.

Once out the door and down the three flights of stairs, Red leads his new roommate to the buildings main office. Inside stands their landlord, chatting with one of her employees. Red patiently waits his turn for the busy lady to face him and she smiles wide when she spots the new roommate.

“Hello dear! Good morning. This must be Papyrus.” She offers a warm hug to the overly tall skeleton, who accepts it with open arms. Red gives a soft smile at the exchange and holds up the folded papers for his landlord.

“Uh, he’s all written in and sighed. You can stop pestering me about getting a roommate now…” A playful smirk spreads across Reds teeth, which puts a mock offended look on the lady’s face.

“Not until I see you with a lady in your hands. Then I’ll leave you alone.” That causes crimson to flush across Red’s face.

“C-come on… I h-have to get to work…” Still flushed in the face, Red turns to walk out of the landlords office. Papyrus snickers and follows behind. That ends the peaceful chat between the three and Red bout scurries off down the street. Papyrus then takes this a chance to get back at him from all the dark jokes. Teasing time!

“Aw, don’t want to be with a pretty lady Red?” The first of many are fired off as the duo walk down the street.

“No. Leave me be.” Red squeaks loudly, trying to get away. Papyrus on the other hand has plans.

“Aw, come on.” Using his much longer legs, Papyrus easily keeps up with Red, who then promptly turns around totally crimson in the face. “I SAID LEAVE ME BE. I DON’T LIKE WOMEN.” Within another moment, Red disappears with a crimson puff leaving Papyrus alone outside.

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS STILL A SHORTY, WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.  
> OH SHIT, LOOK AT THAT. SOMEBODY MIGHT BE... GEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
> 
> Also, two in one day? LE GASP. I MIGHT BE SPEEDING THIS UP A BIT. To be quite honest, each chapter is better than the next in terms of story and grammar so that means that editing won't take as long each time. It also means that I will be able to come up with a better ending as well.


	6. Wind Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story shifts gears and focuses on Papyrus and his depression. Never said this was all rainbows and happiness. Plus this had to come anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible trigger warning. Those who have suffered a sudden lost have some idea as to but Papyrus is going through. Everybody handles lost differently, but I tried to compare this to how I dealt with it years ago. I had a similar bond with the person that I lost and it took a long time to recover.

Standing on the sidewalk, getting pasted by a bunch of other pedestrians in the busy morning, Papyrus looks dumb founded. Did Red just? Well, it’s his choice. Maybe this taller skeleton should stop teasing his roommate too much. Red was getting a little cranky.

Shrugging to himself, Papyrus starts his trek back to the old apartment. He has to turn in his keys and prays to the Angel above that his old landlord doesn’t hit him with any other unexpected fees. This skeleton might have a little bit of money left but he wants to keep it. He wants to rebuild his rainy day fund back.

The walk to the apartments is a slow one even though it’s somewhat of a nice day. Clouds dot the sky but it’s not as bright as the skeleton prefers. Also makes his trip a little more bearable. As Papyrus walks down the busy sidewalk, other familiar monsters stop to greet him and ask about how his day is going so far. They even ask if he found a new place to live, to which this skeletal monster has to put on a fake smile to they don’t chat as longer than he can tolerate, and passes on; as new sets of friendly monsters pass, Papyrus gives a joyful nod and walks on, almost like this is practiced.

This skeleton even passes his favorite flower and card shop that he frequented when his brother was still around. Every morning Papyrus would stop by and pick up a tiny flower for his brother. Standing out front, a tall bird monster rearranges the flowers out in front display. Picking out any dead ones and trimming back leaves. She looks over to the traveling skeleton and greets him with a warm smile.

“Heya Papi. How’s it going with the new roommate?” Being the kind soul that she is, the shop owner runs a very elegant and large colorful arrangement of flowers inside and out. She tends to the flowers keeping them healthy with a little love and magic, but always has time to stop and chat with a friend. She’s the only monster that Papyrus doesn’t have to put a face on and for a moment, he lets the false smile go.

“It’s okay. Red is kinda cranky, but it’s better than the alterative.” The bird ruffles her feathers in response to Papyrus’ comment. She’s heard about Red, just like everybody else in this town. If he’s nice enough to offer a place for Papyrus to stay, then he’s nice enough for her.

“Well, have a good day dear. Here, take this for the road.” The shop owner searches for and plucks a little plant off of one of the displays out front and she hands Papyrus a small white and purple flower, much like the ones he would get for his brother. It puts a small tear in his socket that’s quickly brushed away by a feathered finger. The gentle smile returns, only this time its real.

“Thank you so much… really.” This shop keep was also the one that brought flowers, free of charge, to his brother’s wake. Walking off with the little flower in hand, Papyrus studies it as he departs. Once he’s out of her view, his once cheerful smile drops back into a frown. Today is going to be a good day damn it, if Papyrus can help it.

Almost back to his old apartments, the taller skeleton can hear whispers of conversation from the other monsters that he passes; and it seems to be all about him. The usual ‘poor dear’ have turned into something much more fowl. There seems to be monsters saying rather nasty things along the line of possibly blaming this skeleton for the death of his brother. Each harsh comment stings worse than the last. How could these people suggest something like that! Papyrus would never harm a soul, let alone his own brother. They might have had their arguments but Papyrus would never raise his hand to his brother in his weakened state.

 Finally breaking from the harsh comments, this tall skeleton storms off, face flushed with orange and sockets full of tears. How could they say something so mean? It’s been almost a month since Sans passed away, yet, Papyrus is still trying not to have a break down every time he thinks about his brother. Deep down, it feels like it’s going to be very hard for this younger sibling to recover over the loss of his elder brother. Every time he glances at his roommate it’s like he’s living with a ghost and he has to fight back tears. How long does the grieving process take? Will this ever go away? Living with a strange alternate version of his brother surly isn’t helping and the mannerisms. So similar yet so different. Sure, they only spent a night together but the way Red holds himself and talks reminds him of his brother.

Lost in thought on his trek back to the original apartment, poor Papyrus finds himself at a cross roads of what to do and just heads inside his former apartment complex to talk to his old landlord. He allows the numb haze of depression take over his mind so that he can deal with his landlord one final time.

Entering the building and heading to the downstairs office, Papyrus hopes to meet up with the female landlord but instead comes to find her husband in place. Internally, this skeleton moans. The husband is worse! This middle aged man has a narcissistic complex a mile wide and everything about him is flashy. This interaction already puts a bad taste in his mouth and Papyrus hasn’t been noticed yet. Maybe he can back out…

“Ah, Papyrus. On time to turn in the keys? Good.” Nyeh, he’s been noticed. Our skeleton is greeted by this flashy human and is forced to put on a fake smile just to make this interaction faster. Nodding in response, Papyrus digs in his pocket to find the old keys and goes to hand them over, waiting to see if anything else is required of him. The older man then checks to see if all the keys are present and then smiles wide. It’s the kinda grin that puts shivers down one’s spine. Papyrus can now understand why Sans always dealt with this human.

“Yes, good. I hope your checks clear. All that damage was expensive. Well, best of luck to you.” With that, his old landlord takes his departure, leaving Papyrus all alone in the office with a scowl on his face. This skeleton hangs his head low as he quickly makes his way back outside. It’s a small blessing that he didn’t have to talk to the old man.

Finally, fresh air. It felt so musty in that apartment building that this skeleton couldn’t breathe. Being a skeleton, he doesn’t have to breathe but he likes to smell so that’s a plus. Now for the return trek. Great, he as to go past those folk with all the harsh tones. Why are people like that? Papyrus just can’t understand, but past the flower shop puts another smile on the skeleton’s face. They both wave and smile at each other and walk on. She’s a very colorful bird monster and gives a little bit of color to Papyrus’ dull world. Maybe a few visits won’t hurt. Wonder how Red would react to a flower?

Once again, Papyrus is forced to put up a façade to fool the rest world that he won’t be defeated by this loss. He knows that he can push past this, no matter how hard it’s going to be, just it’s the emotional numbness that’s the hardest part. The stress migraines don’t help either and right now, there is one building in this skeleton’s skull. Maybe another nap will do him justice. All of this is stealing his energy away! Sleeping is loss of productive time and that won’t do.

That very moment, a phone deep in a pocket buzzes. A familiar ring tone just pushed the dull throb into a harsh pound gaining a harsh grimace from this monster. This skeleton knows this ring tone very well. His fish friend is calling. On one hand, Papyrus doesn’t want to answer but on the other, he knows that Undyne will call right back. Again and again, until he answers, so with a flat expression, the tall skeleton locates his phone, swipes left and places it up to where an ear would be.

“Hello Undyne! What can I do for you?” He greets her with the most chipper voice he can muster, wow does it sound awful. Let’s see how long this lasts before she mentions Red again.

“I figured I would check up on you. How are you doing?” Undyne’s voice comes through clearly.  For now, it sounds sincere.

“I’m fine. Went to go drop my keys off and finished up with the old apartment. Now, I… I really don’t know what to do.” Voice breaking, Papyrus explains his morning to his friend. He shakes his head as he travels back down the street towards the new apartment. Already, it feels like home, even though his roommate is a little cranky.

 “Well~, I have to return to the underground with Asgore; would you like to join us?” Flat out, Undyne offers her lonely skeleton, hoping he would agree. The arrogance is deep in her tone and she wants to steal him away.

Papyrus considers the offer but quickly declines. Returning to the underground just wouldn’t be the same. They chat for a while and Papyrus just wonders around town listening to Undyne rattle on about work and anime. It’s an okay day, the weather is decent enough, so wondering around isn’t too bad.

Before he notices, Papyrus finds himself in front of Grillby’s and for a moment he considers walking in. Thankfully for him, Undyne has to go along with Asgore soon and the duo say their good-byes.

Finally some peace, Papyrus then pockets his phone and walks right past, long legs carrying him about a block away before looking back. He used to hate going to Grillby’s with Sans, the food was too greasy, but now he wishes that he could eat another greasy burger with his brother once again. If he could, he would eat every greasy burger that place has to offer just to get his brother back. His sockets well up with tears and he wipes them away with the palms on his hands, then continues walking. Crying won’t get him home.

Papyrus walks fast, as fast as his long legs can carry him back over to Snowdin hills. He reads the sign and gives a dark chuckle at the name. Fitting is it not? To end back up in a place that he once called home? Well, through a set of double doors, Papyrus bounds up the three flights of stairs, unlocks the heavy front door and walks into his new home. It’s rather dark inside but he guesses that’s how Red likes it. WELL NOT ANYMORE!

With a fresh look of determination, Papyrus walks into his new apartment and gets to work. Just after the big door closes behind him and locks on its own. First things first, going to open the window in the kitchen! It’s a nice day!

After opening a window to allow the cool air in, Papyrus looks around and notices all the dirt and dust that’s around. Even the entry way is bad. Well, fret for no longer, stalking over to the pantry, Papyrus looks for a broom. It’s hidden in a corner by the door but he locates that and the dust pan that goes along with it. Then returning to the front door, this tall skeleton gets to work sweeping.

Silly him, his jacket is still on. The coat rack reminded Papyrus. He gives a soft ‘nyeh’ and sets the broom down for a quick moment to remove his own jacket and to place it alongside a few others on the hook, but a rather odd looking, and interesting, hoodie sits on the rack.

A black furred jacket, but this time with golden yellow accents around the trim, cuffs, and pockets. Looks like an edgier version of his brothers. Plucking the jacket off the rack, keen eyes give it a good once over. All the accents, even golden yellow teeth by the zipper that was hidden before seems to be sewn on, pretty well in fact. A careful hand did this. Each thread blends well and looks to be a part of the coat. There’s even a red strip to make the teeth pop!

Running soft tipped skeletal fingers down the teeth, Papyrus seems to stop at little bump and what seems to be sewn together fabric. The cut goes further up to about the left shoulder. What’s this cut? Is there more?

Lower down, on the other side, there seems to be a similar repair, much like the wearer was slashed at the chest and belly. That sight gives this skeleton a bad feeling about where this cut falls on the body. A morbid curiosity takes over Papyrus mind as he decides to put on the hoodie and then go stand in front of the large mirror in the living room. The slash falls along the chest to just above the stomach in a diagonal cut. Of course this jacket is rather baggie on the tall thin skeleton but he gets the picture anyway. What was this from? And Red survived it?

Quickly placing the jacket back on the rack, Papyrus then turns his attention to the scars that pepper the kitchen table. He runs soft fingers over the largest of the scars and locates the cut that Red talked about yesterday. Those pictures alone spend shivers down his spine and it takes a moment for the skeleton to collect himself. Red did mention that his brother stabbed him, on multiple occasions and with vigor. That leaves another question for the pile, but was that slash from his brother? What kinda world was Red from where his own brother tried to kill him?! Papyrus would never think to attack his own bone and marrow! Red spoke highly of his brother but that leaves the kind of question on what their relationship was like. He can see that Red is covered in scars, more noticeably the massive one on his face. Where did that come from?

So many questions buzz around in Papyrus skull. Too many to the point to where he needs to sit down to think, trying to sort it all out. Maybe a lot of his questions will be answered with time but there are a lot that this skeleton dreads the answer too.

After his thinking break, Papyrus gets back up and goes to sweep all the hard wood floors, kitchen and even the living room. He feels the need to tidy up the place and it takes him all day to the point where the day rolls around and the evening sets in.

Still alone in the apartment, and wanting to stay in his roommate’s good graces for cleaning, not that he wanted to insult him but Red reminds him so much of his own brother Papyrus just can’t help but clean, he sets about on making dinner again tonight. He wonders if Red will ever be home early enough to join him for evening meal. His question is quickly answered when keys jingle at the door and bursts in Red with one hell of a sour mood. Eye lights bright and crimson smoke trail in full effect. Papyrus gulps in air and greets him. There even seems to be steam rising off his chest and neck!

“He-hello R-red. Dinner is almost done.” Papyrus stammers out, hands close to his chest and grasped together. The stammering confuses the tall skeleton. What is this fear? Why is he suddenly afraid of Red? There is a dark aura around his roommate but he’s never seen somebody this angry before.

Bright eye lights go out and Red stops in the middle of the large room. He holds up a clawed hand and growls. Tail has already broke free and is wiggling back and forth.

“T e n  m i n u t e s . N o  s o u n d s.” Red’s deep voice echoes, bits of embers shoot out of his teeth with each breath. The voice causes Papyrus to duck down a little and shake. Oh dear stars, Red can do that too. Somehow it’s even scarier coming from this demented version of his brother. Papyrus nods and places his hands to his mouth. No sound. Got it. Along with a internal reminder to never piss Red off if he can help it.

Angry skeleton gives out a loud ember filled snort and finished is trip down the hall. The pause gave Papyrus a moment to look him over and something dark covers his skull, shirt and pants. It even appears that Red has his shoes in hand. Then suddenly, the oven buzzer goes off and Papyrus has to scramble to turn it off, almost burning himself in the process, just in case the enraged skeleton returns.

One door opens and then a moment later, another closes. Then a shower clicks on. Yep, that confirms Papyrus suppositions, Red was in fact covered with something nasty. Well, during this moment, Papyrus takes his time to place the finished food items down on the table, clean out the already used dishes and takes his own seat at the table, waiting on Red.

Being true to his word, Red pops his ugly mug around the corner, freshly clean in his ten minutes of silence. Not as sour as before, but still on edge. Eye lights still bright, steam raises off of him, but one could argue that it’s from the lava shower he seems to enjoy. Work today must have been unkind to him. Papyrus can tell that he has some underlining anger issues that might raise an issue later on, but right now, he’s not taking it out on him.

They both talk about their respective days; Red is impressed that Papyrus cleaned on his first day here, though not totally surprised. He also makes a joke about if anything turned on or moved on its own while he was there. Not to Papyrus’ knowledge.

Throughout the meal, Red winds down and becomes much more like himself, much to the relief of the other. Seems like Red really liked what Papyrus made this evening, either that or he was really hungry. No leftovers.

After a quick wash of the remaining dishes, the duo move to the couch and take their selective spots. Almost like its natural. Both look at each other and share an awkward chuckle. They sit pretty close too but decide not to make it weird and move to the ends of the couch.

Being nice, Red doesn’t care what they are going to watch, so he tosses the remote and allows Papyrus to pick, who finds a special about the oceans! Something scientific and educational will be nice and a great wind down for the rest of the evening. It’s really good too. Both are really into it, chatting about the different animals but about halfway through, Red starts to lose pep and die out of the conversation. Now it’s Papyrus’ turn to chuckle at his roommate. He was really into the show too. Guess not moving makes him fall asleep after a good meal, just like his own brother. Fresh tears roll down tall cheek bones once again. Oh stars, this is going to be hard.

The snoring figure catches Papyrus’ attention and he gets a chance to look over his roommates face again, and this time he studies it face hard. The ridge has returned, fine smile grows on his cheeks. Red’s face must be more pronounced than this skeleton once thought. The shadow is catching it bad. Oh well, it’s kinda funny really. Realizing he’s a lot more tired than he seems, Papyrus feels like he too going to sink into the couch and fall asleep. In his tired mind, a few more minutes on the couch to finish the ocean special doesn’t seem too bad.

Next thing Papyrus knows is that he wakes up again to find the TV off, his chin touching his chest and the purple plaid blanket from the back of the couch draped over him. All the lights, save for the stove light, are off. This tired skeleton lifts the blanket off of his bones and sits up on the edge of the couch. Everything hurts. His back pops in protest, his neck creaks. Falling asleep on that couch was a mistake and Papyrus makes a mental note to never ever do this again.

Finally getting the motivation to get up, Papyrus replaces the blanket over the back of the couch and staggers off to his empty room. Taking a moment before he enters his door, there is a soft snore coming from behind Red’s door. Cranky roommate isn’t too bad. He draped a blanket over him, just like his own brother. The tears quickly return at that thought and Papyrus gets mad at himself. This is what, the tenth time today? Every little thought about his own sibling puts this tall skeleton in tears. Will this ever go away? Only time will tell.

 


	7. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red is up before Papyrus and they talk about some stuff. STUFFFF

Morning comes around, a tall skeleton rolls out of bed, back protesting in pain once again. That couch was a dumb _dumb dumb DUMB_ IDEA! AHH. Papyrus doesn’t thing he’s even been in more physical pain than he is this morning. It takes him a moment, and a lot of ummpf, but he manages to place his hands right on his back and the nasty pop that follows makes it easier to sit straight. There, straight once again. Time to get up and do morning stretches! They are good for the bones!

Hands up high, elbows straight. Stretch the back and upper spine. Finger tips to toes, knees straight, butt high. Stretch the lower back and legs. Papyrus then stands tall with his hands on his sides, perkier than ever. Today will be a good day! A quick dress, shirt and flannel pants, and he is ready to go make breakfast.

Opening his door to exit, a smell of food enters this tall skeleton’s skull and he tilts his head. He looks over his shoulder to his right and can see that his roommate’s door is open slightly. Oh. Surprisingly enough, Red is up before Papyrus this morning and is even making breakfast. Since he didn’t spend half of night on the couch like Papyrus did, the tall skeleton stalks down the hall to go greet his, hopefully not grumpy, roommate. A quick peek confirms his suspicions.

It’s true, Red is making breakfast! This will be a treat for sure. Lazy bones can cook! Papyrus catches himself from crying once again, this is not your brother, it’s a demented copy. Things are different. Already this is going to be a long day, seeing as the tears are getting an early start on him.

Poking his head around the corner, Papyrus walks into the kitchen and gives a soft hello to his roommate. Red just gives a tail shake in return, a tail that’s freed itself… oh no! The shorts Red has on has a little hole cut in these pair. Little flap on the top. It’s very cute.

Over to Red, who just remember that his roommate might not be able to understand dog, groans a hello in return. His voice is harsh, eye sockets blink but he expertly fries up whatever he’s cooking.

“Not much of morning person?” Papyrus breaks the ice asks the tired looking skeleton, who grins wide. This grin looks familiar and Papyrus squints angrily.

“They come too early.” Dead pan as possible, Red replies. Papyrus recognizes the pun, but stays quiet, hoping it goes away. Not on Red’ watch. He wants a reaction and by the merciless angel, he’s going to get one. The grin widens even more, eye lights playfully flicker. “I don’t know what you egg-spected, but I thought that I should try to take a crack at breakfast this morning.” The snicker could not be hidden and Red waits...

Papyrus groans. There it is. That’s what he wanted. Usually Red would make puns until his brother hit him, but this time, he doesn’t want to break his roommate too fast. Not even over the morning meal. Maybe next week when he’s more settled in.

Taking his place at the preset table, Papyrus sits down and checks the clock on the stove once Red moves out of the way; 8:32 am. Wow, up early, making breakfast and awake enough to make puns. Red is damn good. Both have work today, Papyrus is grateful to return with good news.

The spider monster, Muffet, was nice enough to give Papyrus a few days off from the café to find a new home and gave him second shift on the day he returns. This very successful café is only open until early evening since it’s a breakfast and lunch business.

Breakfast goes smoothly. Red made some egg-cellent omelets this morning… Oh great, now Papyrus is doing it too. They clean up breakfast plates together and race back to their rooms. Seems like Red is in a very playful mood this morning teleports away, leaving the non-teleporting skeleton to walk. That also gave him a head start and gets him in the shower first. Damn it Red. Only a door closes and the shower is turned on.

 So to past the time, Papyrus unboxes more of his belongings. He goes through the crate at the end of his to find pictures of himself and his brother. A tearful smile later, Papyrus places them on the night stand next to his brother’s jar. Oh how he misses Sans. He would be so proud of him though! Found a way out through a tough time, made a friend that he can chat with and kinda looks like him. Deep down, Papyrus does wonder how that would go. Red said that they probably wouldn’t get along. He honestly doesn’t believe that but now there is no way to really know.

After going through the crate and sitting back on the bed, this tall skeleton lays on his back and looks up at the celling lost in thought. Sometimes when he’s really feeling bad, he feels a strange warmth around him. Like somebody his giving him a hug and sitting on his bed with him. Papyrus just thinks that it’s his mind playing tricks on him. If he wants somebody to talk to, he has a roommate now! Speaking of roommate, Red better get out of the shower soon, Papyrus has to get ready for work too.

Before Papyrus knows it, the shower is off and Red darts out of the bathroom with a towel on. Steam coming off his body and the scars are bright. His turn. Getting up off the bed, Papyrus grabs his own shirt and pants for the day, then heads off to the bathroom.

Red sure likes to take a hot shower, the whole room is steamed. A quick nob turn, already warm water hisses out and the taller skeleton takes his turn. He is in and out in a flash, less for him to clean, and appears in his own room to finished getting ready. Nice clothes are in the schedule today: Brown jacket, khaki pants, light blue shirt. Papyrus then grabs his apron and heads to the living room, where Red sits, watching the news. Nothing special today. Just normal anti monster protests around town hall. Red seems to get a kick out of it and Papyrus just cringes.

Well today, Papyrus decides to ask Red some more questions! Let’s hope he doesn’t get any mean responses again.

“Red, mind if I ask you some questions?” Younger skeleton starts off, looking a little nervous. Red turns his attention from the tv to gaze up at him. Tail flicks from behind him.

“Shoot.” Red responses in a monotone voice. He doesn’t seem too pleased either. Papyrus gulps in air and looks around.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I saw the slash on your black jacket on the wall. What happened?” Red sits quite for a minute. He looks down, both eye lights out. He looks back at Papyrus and the lights return sending chills down his spine. His smile turns malicious, tail wiggles back and forth from behind.

“The kid.” Papyrus looks dumbfounded at the demented response. Frisk? How could he even, wait this is a different Frisk. “Your Frisk did it?” Papyrus askes. Red slowly nods.

“I don’t’ think it was my Frisk anymore. It was like a demon took over his body. Should have died. Want to see the mark?” Red asks, prepared to lift his shirt, ready to show ribs and belly. Papyrus, of course, doesn’t want to see the marks but it’s too late. Red has his shirt up anyway.

On his belly and chest, there are a multitude of scars, but there is a large one ranging from his right shoulder down to just below the left side of his rib cage, on top of his belly. Upon further examination, Papyrus is horrified but slightly relieved that it wasn’t his own brother. However, that doesn’t explain on the other little scars over his belly and sides. Red did mention that his brother stabbed him a few times, those must be the marks.

“It should have killed me. Knocked me down to almost dust, passed out due to the pain. My shirt was ruined, but the jacket survived. It’s a reminder to always try harder. I could have stopped the kid and I used all of my might to kill him, but he wore me out pretty fast. It was like he knew how I was going to hit him. Any one of my attacks could have killed him instantly but he kept going like he needed to know what was at the end. There was a drive, a lust to know. Haven’t seen him since.” Red recalls his short story to Papyrus about his scars, then smooths his shirt back down. Papyrus is totally at a loss of what to say after looking his chest over. No way that was Frisk who killed everybody in Red’s home world. That’s insane. A nagging thought pokes it way into Papyrus mind, but he pushes it back. Not his kid, not his Frisk, but it does return. Frisk acted like he knew how things were going to play out, even though most of his ‘surprise’ was fake. That date they had in his room back underground, fake. He seemed bored most of the time.

“Lost in thought about something?” Red raises a bone brown and pokes Papyrus in the face. He smiles widely and chuckles, then checks the time on his phone: 9:43am. Time for this crimson skeleton to head off to work! Papyrus on the other hand doesn’t have to be at work until noon.

“What? Oh no. Just thinking. Been doing a lot of that these days.” Causally looking over, Papyrus gives a soft smile to Red as he pulls his large bones off the couch and heads back down the hall, leaving Papyrus alone on the couch. A moment later, Red returns with his uniform on.

 “Well Pap, thinking is dangerous. Come up with something good, alright? Gotta go.” Red snaps his fingers into finger guns and teleports out, leaving Papyrus alone in the apartment. He just mumbles a good bye and goes back to thinking. Humm….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BROODING SKELETONS


	8. Park Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red meets Papyrus at the park, then go get some lunch.

Both monsters spend all day at work and come home, chat, make dinner and then go to bed. Nothing really surprising happens. They repeat this morning interaction until it becomes a new routine. Secretly, Red is starting to enjoy his mornings with Papyrus. Now if there was a little bit more language, violence, and object throwing, it would be just like home, but for once, this fell monster is grateful that he chose a peaceful work to live in.

 Eventually, a week passes and it rolls over to Red’ day off. His lazy day and he so chooses to spend it as he will, at the park out in the sun. Papyrus, on the other hand has a morning shift, but it seems like his roommate wants to spend it with him at the park. Maybe to get to know him a little better. A quick text message is sent off to the taller skeleton as Red waits in his room, no clothes on sprawled across his bed. The lazy way of drying off after a shower. He sends an offer to Papyrus asking if he would like to join him at the park, just for some fresh air and that he would gladly meet him there. He knows Papyrus can’t respond until his break, so he has to wait.

About half an hour passes and Papyrus responds, happy as can be. The down time gave Red a chance to get dressed and throw a load of laundry in the washer. Bed room light turned off on his own and Red just rolls his eyes. He smirks and clicks it back on. Door briskly closes shut in his face and the light under the door turns off.

“Heh. Even in death you are still fun to mess with. See ya.” Talking out loud, Red turns heel and walks down the hall. Today, maybe, he can start to leave the tail out, that is until it’s tugged from behind pulls him back. Invisible arms cling to his shoulders and hold tight.

“Okay okay, miss you too. Join me then, but I have to really go.” The pressure lets go of Red and shoves his hand deep into his pants pocket clinching his vial. Scuttling along the hall, Red picks up speed then out the door.

During his trip over, this skeleton begins to think on his own.

He’s starting to develop feelings for this skeleton. It’s true. He puts a smile on the grim skeletons face each morning when they have a chance to interact. Maybe this softer, overly sensitive and very emotional clone of his brother isn’t too bad. It is weird watching him try not to tear up in the mornings, but Red has to give him credit where it’s due; it has slowed down from when he first moved in. Maybe it’s his soul trying to fill the void. Red just scoffs at the thought and makes his down to the park. It’s a nice day out, enjoy the sun for your brother. Maybe throw more stones at the birds if they don’t fly off.

After walking three blocks south, Red finally arrives at the park. It’s a large grassy area that butts up next to the forest and foot hills that make up Mt.Ebott. The original entrance that Frisk fell through is a good twenty miles from the parks location, but if one sneaks away at night, then nobody will know you are gone. Due to the strong superstations and legends, that where proven later to be true, the entire area that makes up Mt.Ebott Nature Conservancy is a no build zone. However on the other side, there is a road that leads right up to the exit point for the monsters. How do you think they moved their belongings on the surface?

Due to the integration of monster kind, the humans created a special area in the park that has become known as the sparing grounds. Monsters can fight for fun there and not get in trouble with the local humans. Plus humans are always around and they too like to watch the fights. Most of the time there are young monsters in there play fighting or just practicing their own powers. The practice areas have a few moving target areas and three fields to fight in. Its monster maintained, but its human supervised.

Sitting alone on his favorite bench overlooking the pond thinking about tormenting the birds, Red enjoys his time watching the ducks quack around. Those birds sure are tasty but he’s got to be careful when he goes after one. Last time, Red almost got caught and that wouldn’t be a fun rumor for him.

 Pap would have loved this, hell his grumpy father Grillby would have loved this. Red can’t help but think about his family and how much he misses them. Damn kid had it all before, but he guesses that wasn’t enough for him. Dark thoughts take over Red’s skull as he broods on the bench. Shoes kick into the ground and dig up dirt.

As this brooding skeleton sits in spot by the pond, other monsters walk around him. Some of them are whispering to each other. They are talking about him. In the group of monsters, a young teen male gets brave and separates from the pack. He walks up to Red, who looks up as the young male approaches.

“You’re Red right?” He asks the crimson skeleton, who looks at him with a confused scowl. Red nods, trying to figure out what this means. Tail flicks from behind, back and forth.

“Didn’t you kill the other Sans to be here, hoping to take his place?” The teenager asks him flat out. Red looks disgusted at the bold move. Teeth grind and tail flicks back and forth as crimson eye burns brightly. Even steam raises off his neck and out of his shirt.

“ ** _WHAT DID YOU FUCKING ACUSE ME OF YOU LITTLE BRAT?!_** ” Clearly livid, Red shouts as he stands up from the bench. He growls and snarls, soft bone around his teeth crinkle up in a sneer and embers shoot out of his teeth. The skeleton towers over the teen, even his shadow over takes him but the bold teen stands strong.

 “I heard that you killed the real Sans to take his place, that you want to control Papyrus and this is the only way to do it. Right?” The teen asks again, titling his head. His friends behind him look horrified and want to run. Red, on the other hand, snickers loudly. With a wide malicious grin, he responds.

“Alright den, if dat’s was true’s, don’ts ya thinks it would be wise ta come up to me and ask?” More steam looms around Reds head. His arms crackle with magic as he tries to calm himself down. Tail behind him sways, feet turn and take an aggressive stance.

“If I’s wanted ta cause more harm, don’t you’s think I would stop wit’ ‘im?” Tips of clawed fingers flare up with crimson magic as two sharp tipped bone knives summon out of Red’s hands. Eye lights drop and this clearly livid skeleton stomps forward. The teens finally flee at the display of power causing Red to snort embers out of his nose and mouth. Finally, they’re gone.

Bone knives turn back into magic and sparkle away. Red rubs his warm sockets with the balls of his hands and grumbles. Once the teen is a good distance away, he finally calms down. Sweat starts to bead off his skull. Got too hot there, hand goes to fan its owner off, giving him some cooler air.

About that time, Papyrus comes up from behind Red and about scares the marrow out of his bones, who looks back like a dear in the head lights.

“Uh, Red… What was that about?” Slightly nervous sweating, Papyrus tries to not chatter his own teeth but tilts his head. Yep. Don’t piss Red off. Ever.

“Oh, just a bunch of kids accusing me of killing your brother to take his place and control you. You know, something you totally ask somebody who is minding their own business enjoying the sight.” Well, at least Red has calmed down enough to talk correctly again.

Well, Papyrus takes his own spot on the bench and joins Red to look over at the ducks. The sight is soothing for the still warm skeleton. 

 “So besides those teens, how was the other part of your morning?” Trying to break the ice, Papyrus asks his roommate, ignoring what happened earlier. Red slowly turns over to look at Papyrus, a little confused but it seems he’s welcoming the conversation. The confused look turns to a soft smile. Tail flicks from behind him.

“Just sitting here, watching the ducks. They’re quack-tacular to watch.” Papyrus snorts at the joke. Red must be out of it from the little outburst. Deciding he’s done enough sitting, Red stands and offers for Papyrus to come with him. Just a few laps around the pound then maybe head off for some lunch or something. Papyrus is quite amazed with his roommate. Wanting to do something besides sitting, which seems so unlike him. Almost giddy, Papyrus stands up and they begin their little trek together around the pond. Red is going to put effort into this relationship. It’s one of the only positive one’s he’s got. Might as well.

About halfway around the pond, the duo spot the sparing grounds. There is a space open and Papyrus begins to fidget. Red just happens looks over at him and spots the fidget. Oh no. He sees what’s going on here. The frown the stocky skeleton wears says it all. Papyrus then starts to whine and flush orange.

 “Oh please! I want to see your techniques and what you can do.” Pleading look from the taller skeleton. Red shakes his head in return. “Please?” Papyrus pleads again. Red shakes his head again and then turns away. Papyrus huffs, then narrows his sockets with a deviant idea. Hand goes up to his face and he smiles wide.

“Red, you must be emotionally constipated. I know you haven’t giving a shit in days about anything. Please spar with me.” Papyrus asks again adding a slight snicker at the end. Red looks over wide eyed and tilts his head at the snickering skeleton. Did he just…? Oh yes he did. Red is impressed. He gave a pun without cringing.

“Oh trying to butter me up with puns? Well nice try, I’m too slippery to catch.” There. Two can play at this game. Tail flicks back and forth, waiting on the correct response from Papyrus, which comes in the form of a loud groan. Since he delivered a pun, Red decides to give in. Why not?

“Sure. We can spar.” Red gives a half smile and shrugs, deciding to humor his roommate, knowing full well that Papyrus is going to drop out once he checks his stats. An excited skeleton bounces and grabs Red by his wrist.

“Over there! Over there! The field is open.” Papyrus eagerly points, dragging Red over to the entrance of the sparing grounds. The giddy skeleton bounces over, excited to fight his brother from another universe. Papyrus then drags Red over and lines up. This skeleton has always wanted a proper fight with his but he never got the chance. So now, this is the best he is ever going to get, even though this skeleton is much more powerful.

“Wowie! Ready Red?” Papyrus excitedly calls out. Red just nods. “Okay, I’ll go first, if you don’t mind.” Red just shrugs, meh. Papyrus hops up and strikes a pose, eager to battle.

**FIGHT START**

A small smile takes over Red’s scared face. Papyrus really wants to show off to him like he’s his little brother. Somethings never change and right now, that feels like a blessing. His own brother, even though he was Lieutenant Captain, would show off new moves. Papyrus, on the other hand, starts off by throwing a few blue attacks at Red, turning his soul blue.

“Oh no, I’m blue. Whatever shall I do?” Dramatic skeletal pose. Suddenly, crimson magic crackles in his eyes and hand. “ ** _Two can play at this game_**.” Hand rises up high, Red grabs Papyrus soul with a snap and snickers loudly. Holds him up just slightly. Sweat starts to bead off of Papyrus skull and he looks slightly afraid.

“Oh, so warning Pap. I’m holding you now, as you can tell, but when I let go… red magic feels heavier than blue.” True to his word, Red lets go and Papyrus almost drops to his knees. He starts to heave and sweat harder. “I’ll take the red off. I don’t need it to fight.”

In the same moment, Red snaps his fingers again and Papyrus jumps back up, wheezing and panting. He has to fan off his face.

“P-please… don’t d-do th-that again…” Huff. Poor skeleton needs a moment. He finally stands and wipes his skull.

 “W-wowie. That was heavy. Ughh…. Does blue affect you like that?” Papyrus pants out. Red shakes his head, tail flicks back and forth slightly.

“Nope, but you are going to need to hold me down for this cause… well, you’ll see.” Taking his own stance, Red’s hands crackle with magic. Let’s hope he doesn’t kill his roommate.

“Loser buys nice-cream, your move Papyr… AH.” Not even given a chance to finish his sentence, Red has to dodge and roll out of the way of incoming bones. Tail flicks back and forth, he growls and pops back up. No more taking.

Returning fire with his own attacks, Red weaves in and out the bone attacks and gets right up on Papyrus, large bones in his hands, he brings the attack down and Papyrus is forced to dodge. Orange magic crackles and Papyrus sends a wall of bones at Red, hoping that he would stay back but instead, the crimson skeleton blasts right through it. Looks like a blaster attack… until Papyrus spots steam and embers coming from Red’s jaws. The steamy skeleton wipes his mouth and the not so steamy, more like wide eyed and slightly panicked skeleton starts to reconsider this.

“R-right…. Loser buys n-nice-cream…” To Papyrus, this doesn’t feel like play fighting. This feels dangerous. Red can move with surprising speed and flanks him from behind. It’s almost too late for Papyrus to notice as Red comes in with a crackling hang full of magic, only to boop the taller skeleton on the nose with a clawed finger. The surprise causes Papyrus to drop the blue magic hold on Red.

Oh shit. Red’s free. Uhh, desperate to catch up, Papyrus keeps a block of bones behind him, hoping to ward off Red. It works for now. Red just comes around from the front. He’s stopped trying to attack, uses bones to break the blocks, but he’s just tormenting now. It’s a game to him. Papyrus on the other hand, is getting one hell of a work out and is trying to keep track.

“Slow down! I can’t keep my sockets on you.” Bone in hand, sweat rolling down his skull, Papyrus has to keep moving. Even Undyne isn’t this fast. During this time, Red has tapped Papyrus on the skull quite a number of times and the tall skeleton is getting irritated.

“Aw, what’s the matter Papi? Can’t keep up?” This time, Red throws crimson bones at his opponent and it forces him to pause, keeping him open. Papyrus keeps up with another bone block from three of his four sides, trying to keep Red out. This time, Red gets up close. Papyrus can see him through the bones and the chilling smile he wears. Claws rip their way through the bones and Red forces his way through. Tail wiggles and sways behind the stocky skeleton. Arms and teeth open. Red almost looks… scary. Animalistic. There is ill intent behind those eyes as his large form tackles Papyrus to the ground. Both have worked up a considerable sweat and Red steams up something harsh. He’s radiating heat and Papyrus can feel it underneath of him.

“Got’cha. Good work, took some of my health with those attacks. Just a little though.” Red is beaming with pride. He’s impressed with Papyrus and shows it. He then gets off and offers out a hand to help his irritated roommate back up from the ground. Papyrus takes it and is yanked right back on his feet. Red is considerably strong for his size.

**FIGHT END**

Both skeletons finally get a chance to breathe and turn to find a group of bystanders watching them. Mixed emotions follow through. Tail shakes behind Red in a very irritated manner but settles. Papyrus on the other hand looks pleasantly surprised.

“Nice-cream time.” Patting his sweaty roommate on the chest, Red walks past and out of the sparing field. Papyrus has to keep up and gets into pace besides Red. He then leads the loser over to the over active Nice-cream stand and they wait their turn in line.

“Good job, really. Not many monsters can keep up with me. Just a lazy bones ya know.” Looking all around, Red rubs his arm and smiles slightly. There’s those tears again. Papyrus heard his brother say those words many a time and for a moment, it was like he was talking with Sans. He then quickly wipes them away and stands proud.

“Well, you are surprisingly fast and very aggressive in your attack styles. Never knew you would move like that.” They both move up in line. Papyrus chats as he reaches down into his pocket to grab his wallet.

“Oh, once we are finished with nice-cream, mind if we take on some moving targets? I… I kinda want to see what you can do if you don’t mind…Nyeh…” Awkward but informative. Papyrus blinks a few times hoping for a yes and Red just shrugs.

“Sure, you got me active. Might as well put on a small show for you. Don’t know what you are hopping to see.” The duo is now next in line for a frozen treat. Red practically licks his teeth as Papyrus orders and receives two little pouches of frozen goodness. Papyrus then dishes out coin to pay for the treat and Red leads the duo over to some free benches.

The retreat was short and they both sit. Papyrus causally enjoys his treat while Red eats his in three bites like the soulless monster that he is. A grimace comes out of Papyrus as he _then watches Red burn the stick and eat it?! WHAT?_ Red then licks the scoot off his face and leans back on the bench. Another comes up to the two.

“You can get brain freeze by doing that.” Frisk says walking up to them. He even got to watch them fight. Red snaps his attention to him and bites back a growl. He doesn’t give a response to the joke but instead crosses his arms and snorts.

“Oh hello Frisk! How are you doing today?” Papyrus seems more chipper than ever. He stands up and gives his small human friend a hug. Magic glowing in his eyes to show off more than a pleasant smile.

“Also saw the end of your little battle. That was pretty cool! Didn’t know Sans could move like that.” Frisk acts impressed, but if you look deeper into his expression, one can tell that his smile is fake.

“It’s _RED_ kid. Now why are you out here? Isn’t there supposed to be an adult with you?” Both monster and human lock eyes. It’s clear that Red does not like this child and this child seems to be unaffected at the hostility.

“I know that, just wanted to see if you are playing attention.” Sass is returned to the hostility and Red snorts steam.

“Hey guys, don’t fight, please.” Papyrus tries to intervene and move his hands over to Frisk in a protective manner. A wheezing monster comes up to the trio and finally their attention is turned.

“F-frisk… d-don’t lose me like that… can’t run…” Alphys huffs and puffs. Sweat rolls down her face as she bends with her hands on her knees. Her tail drags the ground and she straightens out her clothes. Frisk rolls his eyes and pays her no mind.

Oh great, another friend! Papyrus looks excited and greets Alphys. She waves a small hello and finally catches her breath.

Oh great, another enemy. Red scowls harder and greets Alphys with a harsh glance. It sends a shiver down her spine.

 “So what where you guys going to do after?” Frisk askes the Skeletons. Red prays that Papyrus says go home but he knows that’s a fruitless endeavor.

“I was going to take Red over to target practice!” Papyrus exclaims full of excitement, clasping his hands together. Alphys and Red are still staring at each other and this monster hasn’t met her fallen friends look alike yet. She can’t help but stare and squint at him past thick glasses. “Would you guys like to join?” Papyrus asks his friends while glaring down at Red.

“S-sure.” Alphys stutters as she darts her eyes away from Red, desperate for relief. Frisk nods as well. Papyrus smiles and laughs. “Then let’s go! Nyeh heh!” Papyrus gives a small excited cheer. Red groans and finally gets up from his spot as Papyrus leads the way.

Papyrus leads his small group over to the practice area and there seems to be a few monsters standing around, watching a young child throw magic with their beaming parent. The area next to it is open.

Having to shove Red in, Papyrus pushes his roommate over into the open lane and searches for the control panel. Red stands to the side watching Papyrus activate the targets, who hits a button and the objects down at the end of the lane begin to move. They dance around a flutter. This control panel has multitude different modes and Papyrus speeds up his chosen setting just a hair. The targets then start move in sporadic and quick moving patterns.

Taking aim, Papyrus’ eye sockets light up orange and he hits half of the moving targets in one swipe. Not bad. He then looks over at Red for praise, who nods back impressed. Papyrus’ face glitters with glee cheeks turn a dull orange and he clasps his hands together again. Red’s turn. Papyrus leaves the lane and Red takes over his place.

This stocky skeleton searches over the panel to find a mode that will work for him and hits the extreme mode. Targets quickly duck, drop, and disappear out of place, more sporadic and much faster than the mode that Papyrus chose. They almost seem to blur to the eye and it takes Red a moment to get his foot. He doesn’t even study the targets. Knuckles are popped and a left hand crackles with magic. It’s swiped along the air and all of the wooden targets explode with the sheer force of his attacks.

Both Papyrus, Alphys and anybody of the crowd that was next to them watching all stood in silence. Red looks over his shoulder and shrugs, all humble and bored.

“Well, that was dull. Wanna see something cool?” Red turns back to ask his crowd. Silence. Tail shakes in return.

“Well I’ll take that as a yes then. Alright.” Red then returns his attention back to the panel and resets the targets. He selects the hardest difficulty and smiles wide as steam rolls out of his teeth. It’s been a while since he has done this. The targets dart around, the crowd is totally unaware.

More and more steam builds until embers start to spark out of Red’s teeth with each breath. He parts his mouth open just enough as he selects one target out of the bunch and aims.

Fire. Hot liquid fire shots out of his teeth and explodes the target. Red then turns and bows. He looks rather smug with himself and walks out of the lane. Tail flicks back and forth as Red makes his way out. Claws dig into teeth and this skeleton comes back to his group. Still silence, expect from the children. They clap and cheer. One of them compares it to a dragon.

 “Whoa Red. That was awesome!” Papyrus comes up to Red and other monsters in the crowd start to chatter quietly about the display of power. Red might have been smug about what he can do but he really isn’t found of attention and that act just drew out a lot.

“So much control and you can breathe fire! Remind me to never get you hot headed.” Papyrus marvels at what he saw. Red sighs and shrugs off the praise. Tail swishes back and forth.

“Let’s just say, I’ve had a lot of practice okay. No more.” Red has to plead for Papyrus to stop talking about his display of magic. Frisk has to practically drag Alphys along and they too soon follow behind. Padding up from behind, Frisk has to use longer strides to catch up with the two skeletons. He’s slightly out of breath and wheezes

“H-hey… we … we were thinking about going to the… ah.. Noodle Bowl for lunch. Would you like to join us?” Frisk wheezes out to the Skeletons. Both of the duo look back over to Alphys, who stands back and nods in agreement. Papyrus looks down to Red with a smile as his roommate rolls his eyes. He huffs and crosses his arms. So much for wanting to spend the day with Papyrus. Anything to get out of the park at this point for this stocky skeleton. Frisk then leads the small group out from the park and over back into town.

This odd group travels out of one of the many paths out back into town and out two blocks east of the mountain to the local weebs favorited destination: The Noodle Bowl - udon and sushi bar. Alphys frequents this place with Undyne, sometimes bringing Frisk along after long marathons of anime. This restaurant even plays old Asian movies and commercials that give it the fun theme. Even the whole inside is decorated too look like a manga café from overseas.

Our crew then enter inside and wait on a server to take them over to an open booth. There isn’t much of a crowd at this hour as lunch rush just finished and the noise level is a perfect dull sound of soft music playing inside the building. It takes a moment, a little too long for Red as his tail flicks back and forth, and one of the waitresses comes out to greet the tiny group and lead them to a secluded booth for the four. Another moment passes and their waiter comes by, introduces himself and gets drinks started. Everybody just wants a water. Papyrus looks like he could go for a drink right now due to the tension between Alphys and Red. The awkward silence is starting to eat away at the group and Alphys decides to become bold.

“S-so, Red. I h-heard that you w-worked in the science field b-back home.” A little flushed in the face from the staring, Alphys asks her aggressor. Red nods his answer. He frowns and looks rather bored with this engagement. Great, this one she stutters. Alphys starts to sink in her seat from the hollow staring. It’s clear that Red does not like her and she fidgets with her claws. Frisk perks up at the statement and gives Red a genuine smile. The skeleton finally takes his gaze off of Alphys so she can breathe again.

“So what did you do? Create anything cool?” Frisk asks full of wonder, eye’s open wide like this is something he’s never heard before. He fidgets with his napkin and kicks his legs in his seat. Real excitement! Finally, everybody at the table seems to lighten up a little bit as Red relaxes. He’s still a little angry with the kid from the last time they interacted but it’s in the past. No need to dwell on it.

“Well I guess I can humor you.” Deep sigh, Red rubs his skull and thinks of the short version.

“I used to work with a science team and during that time we didn’t have a Royal Scientist. We still had to put projects together and create results for Over Lord Asgore, he was not a nice king and hated failure.” Red is forced to pause his story due to the incoming drinks. It’s also time to give food orders and since Red has never been here, he goes last. Gives him time to skim the menu and find anything. Uh, this looks… okay? He hasn’t the slightest clue what it is but once it’s his turn, Red orders and a paper straw cover flies across the table at Papyrus. It was from Frisk as he giggles full of mischief. Papyrus pretends to look offended and beams right back with a large smile. Claws dip into Red’s own glass and he plays with his drink, ready to start his story up again. Once the giggling dies off, the skeleton takes a breath and goes back at it.

“Well, once a year, all of the top scientists from across the underground have to present something amazing to try to win the position.  Some of the creations shown where gimmicks or blew up.  Quite literally, like black cloud and all.” Red mimics an explosion with his hands and makes ka-boom noise. He’s about to say something else but Alphys pauses him for a moment.

“W-what h-happened to the Royal Scientist before?” Alphys injects into the story. Red gazes over to her, trying to hind the murderous smile. “Dead.” He answers back, claws clicking the sides of his half glass of water.

“Do you know who he was?” Frisk asks, lifting a brow. Red then turns his attention to him, sneering and little wisps of steam rise from his teeth. One subject that Red does not like to talk about.

“Dr. Wingding Gaster. Fellow skeleton like me. He was murdered by his two sons.” Red tells Frisk. Alphys puts her hands to her face, worried. Papyrus looks astonished and slightly afraid. Frisk looks determined and squints his eyes.

“Why??” Frisk asks again. Red can see the gears turning in the young boys head. Perma smile goes hollow, crimson and white eye lights go out. Tail behind Red flickers and taps on the bench seat.

“When you preform child experiments and then abuse the children to the point where psychological damage takes years to reverse, then you might start to understand.” Eye lights stay out for a moment, then come back on. Red frowns deeply and looks away. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” The other three get his message.

“So anyway, as I was saying, my department worked on much more advanced and medical fields. On the side, I was working on a device that could open tears into the fabric of reality. Like windows into another location. Basically, I wanted to create a portal that could go past the barrier. It worked well enough to get small objects across the underground in a blink, just couldn’t send anything living through it yet. I was going to show case my device at the event and teleport one of those little feral monsters a short distance but it broke. The King knew about it, everybody did. It was a big deal but it failed the day of. Killed the little monster by ripping it apart and imploded. Asgore was severely disappointed that I didn’t have it running.” Red pauses and has to take a breath. He could almost feel the burning stare from Asgore again. That cold, hateful filled glare. Sends an audible shiver down this skeleton’s spine.

Another takes this pause to ask a question. “So is that how you got here?” It’s Papyrus. He tilts his head and smiles softly. Almost pity’s Red from the shiver. Red nods in return, trying to shake the feeling off.

 “When did you get it to work?” Papyrus asks again. It’s a question he’s been wanted answered as well.

“I’ll get to that. Hold on.” Red tells him. “So before this event, a young yellow monster presented something to Asgore.” An aggressive glance to Alphys, Papyrus kicks Red under the table. He jumps a little but it seemed to work. The harsh stare goes away.

“This monster created an artificial soul and implanted it into a square robotic body and named it Mettaton.” By now Red is grinding his teeth. His claws are buried into the foam of his cushioned seat, is trying to redirect his feelings into the foam. Alphys perks at the mention of Mettaton.

“W-what happened after?” Praying for something good, Alphys squeaks out her question. Little drop of sweat falls down her brow.

“Oh she got the position. Asgore figured that if she figured out how to create an artificial soul, then she could take pieces of the human souls and artificially recreate a full soul to free us. To lessen the amount of time underground since we only needed three more to freedom. It was a big to do.” Red pauses to take a deep breath in, steaming rising up from his mouth once again. Breath.

“And with her first act of power, she fucking fired all of us.” He slammed his balled fists into to cushion, still managing a hushed growling tone, tail flicking madly. Alphys jumped at the sudden action, holding back a shriek. “She won due to that fake. That’s right, I know what Mettaton is.” Red keeps a low voice, his growls going unheard. He doesn’t care if anybody else over hears but he doesn’t want to hear about it later either. Alphys isn’t as surprised as he thought she would be, so that means that everybody at the table knew. Red gathers the same conclusion from everybody’s expression. Seems like Papyrus didn’t forget.

“However, back then, having that knowledge was a big issue, and bitch knew that I knew. She was also the monster that tampered with my device. I could smell her sweaty ramen scent all over it.” Growling finally turns into a large smile. “In order to keep me quite, she wanted me dead. Clearly, that failed, so the next best thing was that we made a deal: Either she allowed me to keep my pension and have access to the lab and any of the equipment anytime I wanted or I go to the King.” A large devious grin grows on Red’s face. “And I was on good terms with Asgore, I could get in right away…. But none of that matters now… She’s dead. Mettaton is gone… the king is gone.” The familiar scowl returns to Red’s teeth and he sighs.

After Red’s little, rather unhappy story, there is a long lull in the conversation.  Their food came during the lull, the waiter brings it all out on a platter. Each member at the table seems happy with their food, but Red. He just looks down at it and tilts his head. Yea, he’s going to eat it but… what is it? Alphys didn’t seem very happy hearing about her alternate counterpart and can’t face Red anymore.

The group continues their lunch. Alphys stands by with idle chit chat, talking about what ever movie the restaurant was playing. Red finished his lunch in silence. He wasn’t paying any attention to the chat since he was trapped in thought. Rather deep thought.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for those that read this fic before but I removed the au stories. I really didn't like them and they didn't have much a place.


	9. A Sans-sational Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More about Red's past and Papyrus gets to go out and have fun tonight.

The group’s short lunch comes to an end. The bill is split in half and each side pay their respective ends. Human and lizard follow two skeletons back outside into the sun and they take their respective leave, allowing our duo to head back home.

On their way back, it turns out that a few chores around their shared home need to be accomplished. Some laundry has to be put away, a shopping trip is required. The shorter of the two seems to be lost in though and has to be poked out of his brood by the other. His automatic trek back home is interrupted by an elbow to his side. It takes a few nudges but finally gets the shorter one’s attention.

“Red, what are you going to do when we get home?” Papyrus asks in a flat annoyed tone trying to bring him back into the real world. It seems like Red is just like his own brother when he was trapped in thought, oblivious to his surroundings. Red finally comes back around, looking at Papyrus with wide sockets. It takes him a moment to process the question and he gazes Papyrus with a questionable stare. The taller skeleton is getting rather annoyed quickly. First the hostile attitude and now this.

“Uh, laundry.” Red still looks like a deer in the head lights. He shakes his skull and finally fully comes back. “Uh, Pap, do you need something washed too?” Oh, that’s a first. Both skeletons look at each other and Red mumbles a sorry.

“No, I did some the other day while you were at work.” _Papyrus_ responds with a dull tone. It’s like he’s in a debate with himself. One hand, he liked the nickname, the very same his brother gave him, but on the other, this skeleton is not his brother.

Sadly, the duo walk in silence all the way back down King st toward Snowdin Hills. It’s just in view. Red is staring hard forward, Papyrus is gazing all around. They past the usual sights, some small stores, the library that was spelled correctly this time, and a few dark alleyways. Red is paying no mind to anything around him, tunnel vision in his sour mood but Papyrus notices a young male monster hanging around in one of the dark corners. He makes eye contact with his young monster and he gives the skeleton a wicked smile. Papyrus snaps his attention back to Red and gulps, harshly. Red senses his unease and glances back over to the taller skeleton.

“Something under ya skin?” Short skeleton raises a bone brow. Tall skeleton is flushed with a little bit of orange and shakes his skull trying to play it off like it was nothing. Red isn’t falling for it.

“Uh hun, nothing doesn’t make your eyes light up. What’s got you spooked?” Red inquires again, this time he’s not going to let off. Papyrus shakes his head, closes his sockets, and then rubs them with the balls of his palms to get rid of the color. Once he opens his sockets once again, all orange is gone and it returns back to black sockets.

“See, nothing. I’m fine.” Papyrus is trying really hard to convince Red, or more so himself. His roommate he rolls his eye lights and shrugs, giving up but still not fully convinced. They finally make it back to their apartment complex.

Heading up the three flights of stairs winds the heavier skeleton. He hides it well. The front door is opened and both break off to do their respective tasks. Papyrus makes a request for anything that he needs to grab and Red gives him a few items: Chicken broth, Italian sausage. Seems like this crimson skeleton is making dinner tonight. Red on the other hand, darts around the kitchen, gathering dish towels and nasty pot holders. He wonders his way down the hall with arms full of dirty towels and disappears into the laundry room.

Papyrus, on the other hand, begins to check the fridge, pantry, and chemicals under the sink to see what is needed. Possibly any soaps for the duo. He can hear Red leave the laundry room and dart across to the bathroom. Then reappear with more towels in his arms.

Back to making the list, turns out the skeletons don’t really need that many items. Perfect. Less to carry back up the stairs later on the return. Heading down to his room, Papyrus has to dodge Red along the way to retrieve his wallet and his grocery backpack. It’s a large green bag with black straps, pretty old and has a bunch of repairs in it, but it has served its purpose many a time.

Before Papyrus leaves, he can heard Red finish up with the first load of laundry and then head over in to his own room, door only partially closed. For a set of lazy bones, Red can sure be a busy bee when need. He buzzes around quite quickly and even Papyrus is impressed. Walking over, he gently knocks on the door. Red perks to the sound and pokes his head out. He gives his roommate a questionable glance.

“I’m going out, if you need anything, just text me okay?” Giving his good-byes, Papyrus waves and departs down the hall, leaving Red all alone. He had a chance to nod before Papyrus left and then he goes back into the war zone that he calls a bed room.

It’s dim in Red’s room, just how he likes it. A low hanging sheet covers over his bed from the ceiling and every once in a while, Red unhooks it from its cables and takes it to the wash. It’s got little bits of magic on it so it has to be washed this round. Heh. Once Red pulls that off, he peels his sheets off his bed and throws them into a pillow case for easy transport, then it goes back on the bed. Somewhere along the mess of Red’s room is hamper that needs to be filled. Sniffing out for the plastic basket, Red locates it underneath a stack of papers and note books. Along with his lap top…. Oh. Sometimes… on nights when Red can’t sleep, he’s the kind of skeleton that watches adult videos with a sketch book, and those stack of papers are full of drawings. Oh gross, there is magic on the papers too! Red quickly balls those up and throws them in his overflowing trash can. Once the hamper is picked up and flipped, it’s quickly filled and a dark wood floor is revealed. Wow, Red has a floor again!

Suddenly the washer buzzes. Must be taking longer than he thought. Red drags his hamper full of clothes into the laundry room and moves damp clothes in the dryer and dirty clothes in the washer. He starts both and goes to return to his room.

Time to be productive! Red busies himself by picking up surfaces, sweeping his floor and running a damp cloth over dust, along with picking and bagging trash. During this time, machines buzz and it becomes time to move items around once again. Red hops out of his room with the dirty rags and throws them into the washer with his bed sheets. Before returning to his room, Red folds up the now clean and very warm towels and returns them to their places. In the bathroom under the sink and kitchen towels returned in the drawer by the sink.

Back to the bed room, and quickly getting a messy closet in order, Red is finished with his space. He just sits on his bed, relaxing on the bare mattress in the dark waiting on his machines to buzz once again.

That is until he’s woken up by the front door to his apartment being closed rather harshly, signaling the return of his roommate. Grumbling and hobbling off the bed, Red heads straight to the laundry room to run the last load for the dryer. Tail shakes back and forth. He’s got an extra fluffy blanket that gets its own trip through the dryer but he’s going to run that after dinner. Clean clothes are returned to his room, put in correct drawers and Red hobbles out to greet Papyrus with another tail shake. He comes to help with putting the collected bounty away.

By now, Papyrus has learned a little bit about Red and has figured out the tail shake greeting. It’s non-verbal but welcomed. Darting down the hall for a moment, Papyrus has to put his wallet back in his room and then returns. He’s just in time for taking trash and putting it out by the door. It has Red’s collected trash as well, along with kitchen and bathroom.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Papyrus asks, almost in an excited tone. Magic crackles around his eyes as he helps finish putting things away. It’s the lazy way, but it’s faster. Red responds to the question by digging out all the correct items for dinner: vegetables, beans, and spices to go along with the broth and meat.

“Uh, Minestrone soup. Takes about an hour.” Red plucks a pan off one of the cabinet hooks and rips open the package of meat that Papyrus brought him, tall skeleton becomes highly interested by the contents of dinner. Red grabbed quite a bit of healthy foods this go around: carrots, celery stalks, and an onion, a large can of tomatoes and two cans of beans. That’s a lot of veggies that Papyrus has never seen him cook this much during his week of living here. This ought to be a real treat.

 “Yea, I found this recipe in a cookbook back at home. The book was kinda ruined and it took a while to get the recipe correct, but it’s good now. Even had to learn how to make my own Italian sausage and everything.” Red replies with a smile while browning sausage. It doesn’t take long and he drains the fat in the sink in a noodle strainer and paper towel.

Deciding to add a little bit of noise to help pass the time, Papyrus turns on the TV to look for something to watch. There is a show on human farming history. Looks pretty fun. Attention drawn to the TV, Papyrus sits on the couch and Red listens in while prepping the rest of dinner. Also getting the chance, once Papyrus isn’t looking, Red promptly sticks the soaked rag full of grease into his mouth and sucks on the oils, getting any bits of meat trapped in the towel to go along with it. Tongue laps up any escaped grease from large teeth and Red gets to enjoy a little bit a flavor before dinner. Tail wiggles in happiness.

Listening while he cooks, Red can’t help but enjoy the peacefulness in the room. The show that Papyrus chose isn’t too bad either. It goes into farming culture and some history behind that. Even how farmers knew when to harvest their crops and using the moon phases as a calendar. Sounds a lot like what they did underground. Over in water fall, the areas over by the dump, natural light got in through the cracks in the ceiling and with that, warmth. Algae and moss was huge in that area and a lot of the kids loved to play in it.

Suddenly the TV shuts off, catching both the attention of Red, who is stirring in the final ingredients into their dinner and a small yelp from Papyrus. Spitting out the now grease free towel, Red looks back at the living room with a small confused scowl.

“Why did you turn that off? It was interesting.” Cook growls, tail flicks back and forth. Papyrus looks like a deer in the head lights and searches for the remote. It’s sitting right on the table in-between the couch and TV.

“I-i didn’t! It just shut off on its own!” Poor Papyrus stutters back, afraid with crackling magic around him. Red puts a lid on the finished pot and walks over to couch, scowl deepening. Papyrus on the other hand, grabs the remote and tries to turn it back on.

“It’s.. it’s not working! What’s wrong with the TV?I didn’t turn it off.” Papyrus pleads as he tries to explain himself. Red rubs his nasal bones and sighs loudly, tail flicking with irritation.

“Figures. Always likes to ruin shit when it gets good don’t ya.” Red says out loud, confusing Papyrus even more. It’s like he’s not talking to him but to something else in the room that he can’t see.

“Please turn the TV back on.” Red says to nothing, this time, his other hand is holding his elbow of the hand that’s rubbing his face. Papyrus whispers that he did to himself, afraid of the unseen force. Red shakes his head, then grits his teeth rather harshly.

“PAP, TURN IT BACK ON.” The now highly irritated skeleton barks to the air, suddenly the TV clicks back on, causing the now shaking roommate to yelp rather loudly sitting on the couch. Beads of sweat roll down his face, soaking into his shirt.

“W-what’s g-going… on R-red?” Papyrus stammers out, holding his hands together up close to his chest. First the other monster, now this! What else does this day have in store for Papyrus?

“Papyrus, heh, meet Pap; my brother.” Red rolls his eye orbs as he turns to walk down the hall to his room, leaving Papyrus all alone, who starts to freak out. A ghost? In their apartment? He starts to stand up and to head down the hall but Red returns with something in his hands. He then laughs at Papyrus and hushes him.

“Oh relax. He’s harmless.” Red smiles wide. “He’s not going to hurt you, see?” The TV changes channels in response, all the while the living Papyrus is trying to not have a mild panic attack. Red laughs even harder at Papyrus and goes to sit down next to him.

“Bro, quit scaring my roommate. The worst Pap can do is play with electrical devices, like turning off lights.” Red smiles and hands the object to Papyrus, who looks like he’s been told the ultimate truth.

“Well that explains a few things.” That comment alone causes Red to look back at Papyrus and raise a bonebrow at him. He needs to head back over to the stove and stir the soup so it doesn’t burn. “My bedroom light would turn off sometimes. I thought it was the bulb.”

“Yep, that’s probably him. He’s really anal about turning off lights. Still is.” Stirring the pot, Red takes a taste; needs more time. He then leaves the kitchen to return to Papyrus and sits on the couch.

Up until now, Papyrus hasn’t even looked at what Red gave him, until Red returned. It’s is a picture frame with his roommate and somebody that looks alarmingly much like this living skeleton. Papyrus starts to piece things together. It’s Red and his brother back at home! They look so happy. Tired but proud eyes look back from Red, but his brother, a softened harsh gaze along with a large smile. It has a caption written on the frame, cadet graduation 20XX, must be the day his brother made it into the Royal Guard. Red looks proud of his brother, along with another monster that kinda looks like the purple version of Grillby. His gaze is even harsher, not as warm as the flame elemental he knows.

“Is this your Grillby?” Papyrus asks looking up at Red, soft fingertip on the glass. Red smiles and corrects Papyrus, calling this Grillby ‘Father’. “You three look so happy.” Papyrus comments again. Red looks away, giving a mournful smile.

“That was the Pap he made it in. He had to pass so many tests, but Undyne finally let him in. The patrol in Snowdin changed after that. Got better. Felt… safer.” Mournful eyes look up to Papyrus and are blinked away in seconds. Red’s smile is still a little hollow but he’s glad to talk about his brother.

“Was he just a sentry?” Papyrus asks again. He gives a soft smile to Red and hands him back the picture frame. Red has to look away for a moment and think.

“We both were sentries as any royal position also has sentry work along with it. It sucked, but it was time off from stress. Yea, Pap was Lieutenant Captain.” Explaining a little bit more into guard life, Red rattles off a few things. He then looks at Papyrus. It takes the taller skeleton a moment but his sockets go wide.

“LIEUTENANT CAPTAIN?! NYEH!” Almost bouncing off the couch, Papyrus jumps up and crackles with magic. “That means I could…. FUCK.” Angry fists balling up, Papyrus grabs the sides of his skull and falls back on the couch with a humph. He pouts and crosses his arms. Red doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he doesn’t have the drive or aggressive nature for the position. Now, that doesn’t mean that Papyrus would have been a bad guard, no, he might have been a great guard but that chance was stolen from him. Red continues his story.

“Well, we both had stations just outside of the ruins. I was there when Papyrus got his first human, all on his own. That was a promotion and a pay raise right off the bat. Dad held a party and everything.” Red recalls the memory with glee and praise. He has to return to the kitchen to stir the soup and for another taste. It’s almost ready, which is great because both are getting hungry. With a quick flash, Red takes the picture frame back to his room and then returns again in the kitchen. Papyrus scowls and grumbles about the chance that was stolen from him. He could have captured the human that traveled through Snowdin with the right training. He could have been…

Thinking about what could have been makes this skeleton angry. Papyrus doesn’t want to talk about his time as a sentry and how mislead he was with Undyne. Why couldn’t she just tell him from the start? Why couldn’t she tell him that he was never going to make it into the guard? Why did she lead him on like that? And why did his own brother collaborate with her?

Getting up from the couch, Papyrus clears his head by setting the table for dinner as Red pulls the soup off the stove. It’s still very hot and has to sit for a few moments, so Red takes that time to boil water for noodles that go along with the meal. Before the skeletons know it, it’s ready to eat.

Getting a little bored of talking about himself, Red starts to ask what life was for Papyrus. After pouring soup into his bowl, Red starts off with a question a simple question. Let’s see where this goes.

“So Papyrus, who was your father? From my time in the multiverse, I saw a few versions of us and I want to know where you stand.” Red asks. He quietly pleads that the answer is not Gaster. Papyrus perks and smiles.

“My father was the Royal Scientist before Alphys. Dr. Wingding Gaster!” Tall skeleton beams back full of joy, but then remembers what Red said at lunch. “Don’t worry about me Red, my father wasn’t a monster like you said yours was. He was a big jolly man. Always fun to be around. He looked kinda scary with a large cracked face but was a big teddy bear. He would take Sans and I under his arms at night and read us stories.”

For a moment, Red almost looks jealous to his roommate’s story. His father used to read him stories. During his time in the multiverse, Red has seen what it could have been and for somebody as soft as his roommate get this lucky, it almost makes his marrow boil. Angry tears streak down Red’s cheeks and he has to force the feeling back.

“Hey Red, it’s okay. Relax. Take a breather. We don’t have to talk about this.” Papyrus takes a bite out of his soup as he consoles his roommate, then nods in approval. It’s taking Red a lot longer to shake it off than he wants as the jealous look returns.

Looking around, Papyrus gets an odd thought. He locks eyes with Red and tilts his head. “What did he do to you?” It’s a simple question. Red actually looks surprised with the question. He just glares in return and reaches down to take a spoon full of his soup. Boiling hot, just like how he enjoys it. Papyrus still waits on his response.

 After more hesitation from Red, he places the spoon down and takes a breath. Alright, fine. He’ll chat. Only fair.

“We started off as a normal family. Mom died shortly after Pap due to an infection at the hospital. Dad went insane. Became extremely abusive, often beating me if I got out of line. Refused to take care of my little brother. He then took both of us and we became his test subjects. Asgore tasked him with a creation of power. Our father wanted to corrupt us. Bend us, turn us into something more than normal monsters.” Red is starting to get a little worked up as he talks about his past. Papyrus listens on, staying attentive and allowing Red to continue.

 “At first, I thought it was fine. He often took our vitals and measured us. Even gave me a few injections to raise my health since beating the shit out of your child was the norm back at home. Then it turned into painful injections, horrible side effects and manipulating magic. It gave me a fucking tail! In the mind of a six year old, that was cool as fuck… until…” Red turns away, shaking, then takes another mouthful of dinner. His tail flicks from behind him. Papyrus looks on astonished. That causes many more questions to raise up out of Papyrus. He wants to ask. He wants to know why. Insanity does things to monsters. Red did said that Underfell wasn’t a good place to begin with, but darn. That’s the worst thing this skeleton has as ever heard and he suspects that there is a lot more that Red isn’t willing to give out right now.

“I have another question.” Papyrus blurts out. Red about chokes on his meal and slams his fist down on the table, shaking the contents on the table.

“NO MORE.” Angry crimson skeleton bellows, soft bone around his teeth crinkling up in a snear. He’s finished talking but Papyrus goes on, clearly not afraid of Red’s antics. Something deep down is telling him to not show fear to this skeleton.

“Before Frisk freed us, we were really gung ho for the destruction of humanity. I’m more than confident that it would have never gone down that path, so what was it like back at your home? Did you still promise your Toriel to protect the human?” Papyrus ignores Red’ previous statement and asks him more questions. That’s right, Sans caved and told him one evening. Red growls at Papyrus and gives him a dirty look.

“Fucking fine, ya want ta knows?” A snarl comes out of Red’s teeth as he gathers his words in his thuggish tone.  

“Yea, I made dat promise wit da goat bitch. Also gots ta watch everybody I knew die by a ten year old brat. Afta he killed my bro, I disappeared, k. Didn’ know what ta do. Afta I gots the call dat Undyne has been killed, I finally decided ta react. By den, the child’s fucking LV was higher den mine. Needed a little help so I had to use something that I always kept on my person. Could have kill’d that brat but somehow he knew all my attacks and that I has a power booster in my pocket. He slashed my hand as I tried to pop it and cut me down.” Red angrily rants off at the table. Only his crimson eye is burning brightly. He forces himself to pause and to take a breath. Tail still wiggles around, all crazy behind Red. Finally calming down enough, Red finished speaking. Not much left.

“But dats all in da past now and on a lighter note, if I didn’t keep dat promise, getting out would be been.” Red pauses with a sadistic grin, trying to gather words. “War like. We didn’ want to kill off all the humans. No no. We wanted revenge! Enslavement would have been merciful. Asgore would have been in control of a very powerful being and by the time any group of humans would try to react, the army that would have come out of the underground would be backed by a massive power house.” Red finishes his rant, slight amounts of sweat beading on his skull. What he didn’t tell Papyrus is that he would have been the power house and would probably never been able to enjoy the surface life. Deep down, Red was kinda glad that he didn’t have to be used like that. His roommate however, looks on in horror causing Red to give out a hearty laugh.

“Did you really think that it would have been rainbows and sunshine? Look at me Papyrus! I’m the person parents warn their children about. The power that I used today at the park was only a fraction of what I can really do. That was play and out of practice. I haven’t had a proper fight in almost a year and I didn’t really spar with you because if I fucked up, I would have killed you. My attack is 150! _Per second._ ” Angrily shoving food into his mouth, Red munches away. Too much tomato… Should have boiled longer.

“I don’t… want to hurt you… ya my buddy Pap…” Eye lights look away. Red doesn’t say another word through dinner and Papyrus takes it upon himself to put away left overs.

Not even bothering to stick around, Red stomps right off to the laundry room to finish putting his sheets away. Magic helps with putting the fresh sheets on the skeletons bed and the dark blanket over his bed. Ultra-soft blanket tumbles in the dryer for warmth.

Back to Papyrus in the kitchen, he just goes and sits on the couch to brood more. He really wants to ask Red more about his world, but then again, he figures that it’s better to wait. Who knows, Red might want to talk more about it on his own time. He did call him his buddy, which puts a smile on the skeletons face. However, sleep might come a little harder tonight after this tall skeleton found out about the unseen resident in the apartment. Eventually deciding that it’s time to go lay down, Papyrus heads back to his room for the night and wiggles into his bed sheets. Red stomps around for a little longer. Then silence.  Papyrus has opening shift tomorrow morning at the Café so he needs to sleep early tonight. Red, is well, Red. He is a night owl. Sometimes, when he can’t sleep, he will head out and walk around town. Tonight is one of those nights.

The soft patterning of rain starts to fall on the roof of the apartment building and hit the window. It lulls the tall skeleton to sleep but it won’t stop his roommate. Red set the dryer and spends the rest of the night out in the rain, getting completely soaked. What he does out there, only the stocky skeleton knows, but he does return in time for the hot blanket to curl up in… after taking a quick shower to gets the bits of grass and mud off his bones.

Morning rolls around.

The apartment is silent. Sun rises and cooks the moist ground creating a thick fog. Papyrus finally gets up really early to get ready for work. He knows Red is still sleeping but has no idea what waits in the shower. This tall skeleton walks from his room to the bathroom to take a quick shower, opens the door to find cloths in the shower stall. He squints and grinds his teeth together.

Internally cussing his roommate in his skull, Papyrus plucks stiff clothes off the shower rod and places them on the floor right next to it. They look like they could walk on their own, impressive but still gross, Papyrus starts up the shower and undresses. He is pretty quick with his shower and doesn’t steam the bathroom up quite as bad as Red does. Papyrus then dabs off and wraps a towel around his waist. Reaching for the sink, he grabs his tooth brush and squeezes paste out of the tube, finishes up in the bathroom and hobbles straight into his own room.

As the tall skeleton gets dressed, a sudden heavy thud sounds from next room over, then a low groan that ends with a muffled ‘fuck’. Papyrus on the other hand wiggles his way out of his room and over to Red’s door within seconds, giving a few soft knocks and calls inside.

“Hun?” Red calls out half asleep, sounds deeper. Did he get a cold out in the rain? A soft snort, then it sounds like Red tries to get up off the floor.

“I, uh, fell out of bed. Do that sometimes.” Red then responds through the door, creaking along the floor boards. “I’m up now.” Door knob clicks open, Papyrus backs up and Red pokes his head out his door. All he has on is a blanket and is rubbing his face, looks really tired. Papyrus can see the large scar on his gel and bones again. It’s still a horrible sight and sends a shiver down the taller skeleton’s spine.

“Yeah. See fine.” Red walks past Papyrus, blanket dragging behind and heads to the bathroom for some pain killers. “I stayed out too late. Guess I’m regretting it now.” He then shoves a pill in is his mouth and gets some water from the sink with his hands.

“What do you do out there that late?” Papyrus asks his groggy roommate. Red pauses for a moment, trying to blink the sleep away. Both white eye lights move over and look at the perky skeleton, Red has to squint for a moment. Tail flicks under the blanket.

“I can’t sleep sometimes, so I walk around the park. Nobody is going to mess with you if you are the scariest looking motherfucker in town. Plus, I love the rain.” Red seems indifferent but Papyrus is starting to know better. Blanketed skeleton then retreats back into the dark of his room and flops into bed. Papyrus pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time: 4:51. He needs to get a move on. The café opens at 5:30 Am. The tall skeleton then leaves his roommate to go finish getting ready for the morning. About a few moments later, he departs out of his room.

“Well Red, I have to go. See you later.” Papyrus says as he walks down the hall, waving back to him. He almost gets to the front door, stops and exclaims with a loud ‘Nyeh!’, remembering something. Papyrus turns back and vibrates down the hall.

“Red, I’m going to be out late. Like really late. Undyne wants to drag me to Mettaton’s concert tonight.” Papyrus walks back up to Red room and pokes his head through the open door again, coming up to find the fat skeleton bundled up in his soft blanket. Red opens a socket and slowly turns to face Papyrus and glares. He isn’t really a fan of Mettaton, but gets over himself for Papyrus.

“You might be heading home when I get off.” Red says in a groggy voice as he props his head up on his hand. “You are a big skeleton and you have a key. See you ...” Red drops off midsentence, falling over onto his back. All Papyrus can do is shake his head at his roommate and turn back down the hall. Lazy bones fell asleep talking to him! Just like his brother…

Papyrus catches himself in time. No tears. Not today. It’s going to be a good day one damn it. His brother wouldn’t want him to be sad and besides, he has a concert he is going to! Finally making it out of the front door, Papyrus bounces down the three flights of stairs and out of the front of his apartment building. That’s right, his apartment! This tall skeleton has a new life now and nothing will stop him from enjoying it!

Ah, the sunrise. The beautiful colors that mend in across the sky. All the oranges and reds with a kiss of pink. Papyrus really enjoys watching the sun come up on his way to work. It’s one of his favorite things about the surface, along with wind. Watching the sunrise always starts off a good day and this skeleton is determined to have one. He walks his way down King Street to the side street Prince, and arrives just in time for opening.

Working at The Spider Parlor Café is pretty fun. It’s owned by Muffet and is much larger than the one she had back in the underground. Even was a huge hit with the edgy crowd of humans when it first opened. It was even better that a spider monster owned the café. Papyrus does owe a lot to Muffet since she is really nice to him, even so after his brother died. Giving him much needed time off to get his affairs straightened out.

Walking in the front door, little spiders jump down on the tall skeleton and crawl on his shoulders and skull. Even this parlor is full of her spiders as they work like security around the place. Muffet even still sells her spider themed pastries, just not with real spiders in them, and at a much better price. Sadly for the monsters, the spiders in her food violate the human health code and if she wants to keep her store, then she has to follow the rules. However, monsters can still get the special pastries. They just have to know when to ask.

After shooing off the tiny spiders, Papyrus walks in and is greeted by all in the shop. He works with five other monsters at a time, along with Muffet. It brings that to a total of seven monsters in the shop, but since it’s a pretty large location so it’s not all bad.

“Ahuhuhu~ Good morning dearie.” Muffet greets Papyrus with a chipper smile, carrying boxes into the back of her shop. The skeleton monster returns his own greeting and gets right to work. He works with the pastries, since he enjoys cooking so much. This morning he is putting some cherry danishes together, pushing into the middle of the pastries to bake a dent for the filling in it.

The morning moves on, the shop opens and many humans and monsters alike pass through. Papyrus greets everybody with a warm smile and some good laughs as they walk in, he’s right in the front with one of the ovens. In his opinion, the best part about his day is making people smile with his welcoming attitude. Due to his job, he gets to hear all kinda of gossip through the monster side of the city and today was no different.

“No way. He did that.” A lizard lady says to another.

“Yep. I heard he is slowly working on controlling the poor dear.” Papyrus hands the first woman a danish trying to not listen in. The woman takes her pastry and looks at Papyrus with a concerned face and a soft smile.

“Good luck dear. Thank you for the treat.” She says to the skeleton, which confuses him even more. “Your welcome?” Papyrus shakes it off. That was strange.

There is a lull in business after the morning rush, giving Papyrus time to help clean up around the front counter and take out trash after forcing another batch of pastries into the oven. He also wipes his station down and scrubs the counters, getting the caked goo off and a nice wash. During his scrubbing exposition, and quietly listening in, Papyrus gets quips of conversation and this one sounds good.

“She just had a baby. Yeah.” A purple flame girl says to her snake friend. “How many does that make?” The snake retorts back. The flame narrows her eyes. “Seven.” They both giggle. That’s a lot of children. Sounds like a bunny family, how sweet. Papyrus used to hear about those all the time back in Snowdin. They chatter for a while, until one of them remembers something good.

“Hey, did you hear about what happened at the park yesterday?” The snake says in a hushed tone. Papyrus finally finishes up with his counter and goes to pull out his last batch of sweets out of the oven.

“Yeah. I heard that was a wicked nasty display of power.” Oh they must be talking about Red! Yeah, that was awesome. Who knew he could actually breathe fire?

“I heard that he was showing off to prove how powerful he was. If the other stepped out of line.” The snake monster made sound and slashed her finger across her throat. The flame holds her hands up to her face in a gasp.

“Oh no. That’s horrible. Why would he do that?” Flames crackle in worry. The snake shrugs in return.

“I just heard that he has a history of physical abuse and prays on the weakest, most vulnerable person he that he could find. I mean, have you seen him? He has massive scars on his face and his eyes scream crazy.” The snake finishes up with her lunch, flicking her tongue. They both look back to Papyrus, who now has to pretend that he wasn’t listening on that. Wait, Red isn’t abusive is he? Is he? No, otherwise he wouldn’t let him go out tonight. Right? Red has come home angry in the past, but he never took it out on Papyrus. This skeleton is going to have to talk with Red when he gets home, find out what’s going on. Maybe when he gets off here he should give Red a visit. Grillby will let him in the back to the kitchen. He knows it. After all, this skeleton spent a lot of time there after his brother died. It’s also where they had his wake.

After finishing up with his last batch of icing and filling up his pastries with their cherry goodness, Papyrus heads into the back of the restaurant to get out of view. He’s getting a little tired of all the weird pity and spends the rest of his time with busy work. Dwelling on the current issue isn’t a good idea right now. However, that doesn’t stop other customers coming in and talking to this skeleton like he is going through another emotional break down when he does come out to clean and restock shelves. If he had hair, he would rip it out and it would be all over the ground. Orange magic dancing up and down his arms will do just fine. It takes Papyrus a moment, but he notices how bad the crackling is getting and quickly gets it under control to resume with work.

Once his overly long shift is over, Papyrus says his farewells is out of the café in a flash. He runs down Prince Street, straight down King and over to Grillby’s, making good time with long legs and has to pause outside the door to collect his thoughts before walking in. Straightening out his clothes, and trying to force a smile on his face, Papyrus opens the heavy front door with a jingle and enters the familiar restaurant.

The first person he sees inside is a crackling flame elemental tending bar. Papyrus walks up to Grillby, who seems a little hotter than normal, flames up high and dancing on his head and hands. Whatever has been happing with Papyrus at work must have been happening here. Grillby has a deep scowl on his features but when he looks up it quickly drops and a relieved smile spreads in place.

“Papyrus! What can I do for you?” Flames lower as Grillby greats his skeleton guest. Papyrus gets right to the point and his own fake smile falters.

“Can I go in the back to talk to Red? It’s important.” Voiced laced with worry, Papyrus presses his hands together and twitches his fingers, often pulling them and popping the joints. Grillbys face turns into a frown at the question.

“Go on back. I’m afraid Undyne got to him first.” Flame elemental gestures to the kitchen door with a free hand. Undyne already got to him? Oh this isn’t good. They hate each other already and this is making it worst.

“Is she still back there with him?” Papyrus asks. Grillby shakes his head no and a grim smile turns up on his face.

“You don’t hear any yelling do you? Head on back. Just watch out, Red is in one of his moods.” Grillby gets right back to the counter and leaves Papyrus to himself, who takes the warning and gulps in a large breath of air. He walks over to the kitchen doors and heads on in bracing for whatever he might find.

Small crimson cloud raises to the top of the ceiling and Papyrus spots Red at his sink, hunched over with a dark aura around him. He has a stack of plates and pots all cleaned and ready to be move around. The door closes rather hard behind Papyrus and Red becomes aware that he is no longer alone in the room, who snaps back in a snarl only to find Papyrus in place. Papyrus freezes, breathing hard and holds his hands tightly to his chest. Both stare at each other for a moment and Red lets out a breath of air.

“Oh thank fuck, it’s just you.” Crimson flushed skeleton sighs, allowing his visitor to relax as well. Freed tail flicks behind Red, down low at a rather fast pace. Claws work picking cooked on food off of a pot.

“Grillby told me that Undyne has already visited you. Is everything okay?” Papyrus asks, getting to the point of his visit. Red grabs another pot after his last one and scrubs it down, squeezing the scrubbing pad a little too hard and soap comes out between his bones.

“She came in here demanding about yesterday. Like we was terrorizing children at the park or some shit.” Red then drops the pot into the sink and fills it with water, then moves over his stack of dishes to carry them where they belong. Much too angry to use magic, Red manhandles the stack of heavy glass and moves. He doesn’t stagger, or shake. It seems like he is more than able to carry those alone.

“She started ta yell at me, I yelled back. Grillby then walked in and yelled at her. There was lots of profanity. Heh.” Red places his stack down and divides them out so that they don’t fall. Then quickly returning to his station, after having to shoo Papyrus out of the way, Red collects the clean pots to put back, then continues with his story. “Grillby tells her that I’m just back here doing my job and they she needs to worry about hers. She replies with that she is and is trying to protect her people. I don’t know what her issue is.” Red finishes up with putting the rest of his stack away and finally gets a chance to look at Papyrus, bonebrow high in question. “What warranted your visit?”

Taking a breath, Papyrus recalls most of the chatter that he can remember from the café. Red nods along, deep scowl on his face, tail flicking along in response. He seems to be taking this well.

“So let me get this straight, people think that I am abusing ya?” Red looks up and down at Papyrus, scanning his arms and face. “Ya have no bruises, no cuts.” Stocky skeleton then takes a step toward Papyrus, who gives him a confused look. “Ya don’t flinch when I get near ya.” Red folds his arms.

“You don’t yell at me. I don’t think that you are trying to control me.” Papyrus finally injects his own comments, looking down at red. He can see the wheels turning in his roommates’ skull. It’s the same look his brother often got when he would be deep in thought.

 “What I think is its Undyne trying something.” Red shakes his head, glaring harshly.  Papyrus gives him a perplexed look and crinkles the soft bone around his teeth. What? That’s silly. Why would she do something like that? Papyrus shakes it off. Red doesn’t press it and turns back to the sink. Both skeletons linger in the room for a moment. If it wasn’t for the fact that Red was messy… Papyrus comes up from behind him and gives him a hug. Eye sockets open wide and tail shakes to the side. “You’re not bad, just scary.”

Grillby walk in on the two with more plates and pauses, smiling. Red has pleading eyes and Papyrus nuzzles into the top of his skull. A small snicker comes out of the fire elemental and he drops off his stack of plates, making noise. Papyrus lets go and flushes a little with orange, along with mumbling a soft sorry to Red.

 “Oh, Grillby is talking about hiring more hands. So that we can work proper schedules.” Red informs Papyrus, trying to change the subject. That’s good news for the both of them as some much needed help in the kitchen will do these guys wonders. Right now, business is kinda slow because Grillby is the cook and Red cleans everything. They turn out some quick results with their two man team, but extra hands will make business move better. Papyrus is glad that Grillby has decided to hire more. Maybe Red can come home at a decent hour now. Speaking of bad hours.

“I don’t know when I will be heading home tonight.” Papyrus blurts out. Red looks back at him from the sink and shrugs. “You have a key, if you beat me home, oh well.” He returns his attention back at the new stack and chuckles. “If you stay any longer in the kitchen, you will be put to work. Flee now while you still can.” A slight tease from Red, Papyrus smiles wide. Yep. That’s sounds like what Grillby will do.

“Need anything removed?” Papyrus asks, figuring he should at least take something out. Red points back to the trash at the back door without looking away from his task and elevates the trash with magic to alert Papyrus.

“Okay. Later Red.” Papyrus heads to the door, taking his leave. Red shakes his tail in return.

Grabbing the heavy bags, Papyrus departs out the back door, dumps them quickly and heads down the street toward town. He has a while before he has meets up with Undyne, but there is always time to kill in town. Some shops are always open and maybe Papyrus should give that flower shop keep a good visit.

Hours past. The sun goes down, stars come out. The moon is missing from the sky so its extra dark out, but that’s doesn’t bother a rather chipper skeleton who just departed from his fish friend after fun filled evening at the concert. Papyrus’ skull still rings from the long show but he had the best seating in the whole venue. Along with Frisk, Alphys, Undyne and Toriel. Mettaton sang a bunch of his favorite songs and told some jokes between a few tunes. Napstablook is a wonderful DJ for his cousin and they worked together for a spectacular show. His is still a few blocks away from home, and has to walk down King Street, past Grillby’s and all of the fun little stores that hang their closed sighs. This skeleton begins to wonder if his roommate has gotten off of work yet. It’s around that time, but Red usually heads straight home after work since he really doesn’t have many friends. Plus it is kinda late when he gets off.

Papyrus does feel some pity for Red. His roommate doesn’t hate on anybody; it’s the nice monsters that Papyrus knows disliking and alienating him. When Red first got here, he tried to make friends. Papyrus guessed that watching the people you knew turn to dust, only to see them alive again in a different form was too much for him. However, Papyrus will be the first one to admit he wasn’t very nice to Red in the beginning either. He has spent enough time with this other skeleton now to know that it hurts him to see others having fun without any inclination of involvement. Red pushes through it with a scowl on his face and goes about his day.

Some parts of the side walk is completely dark with many of the street lights either don’t work or are too dim to give any help. The town really needs to fix that. Papyrus walks past many alleyways and dark spaces and starts to get the feeling of being watched.

With long legs, Papyrus moves faster and has to get to Grillby’s to ask Red for an escort, um, a friendly late night walk home that totally isn’t an escort because the Great Papyrus isn’t a coward. Yeah. He wonders how Red did it, walking home in the dark city like this. How did he put it? ‘When you are the scariest looking person in town, nobody messes with you.’ Papyrus tries to recall what he said exactly, but instead puts his hand into his pocket to reach for his phone, totally unaware at the fact that he is right across the street from safety.

WACK, something hits Papyrus hard enough from behind to crack the back of his skull and send him tumbling onto his front. There is a dark chuckle from behind as foot stops move in closer.

“So this runt goes down in one hit? Not much of a match for me.” The voice says. Papyrus shakes his head to release his mind from the haze and rolls over to get a look at this monster. It’s a young male that has green fur, one white eye, and long fangs. It’s the monster from the other day! He mugger backs up once he’s been seen and smiles wide.

“Oh, didn’t knock you out. Let me try that again.” He reaches down to grab at Papyrus by his shirt only to have one of the skeleton’s shoes to kick the hand away and spring back up from the ground, turning this monsters soul blue and pins him in the air.

“What’s the deal? Why did you hit me?” Papyrus asks him, looking shocked that another monster would do this to him. The young monster just laughs in his face.

“You have seen me for too long. I’m afraid that you are going to be dusted now. Can’t have you looking at my handsome mug for too long.” He boasts, still being held by Papyrus. Wait, he wants to kill Papyrus? He probably wants his wallet, that’s why he tried to knock him down, but killing another monster for their money, maybe Papyrus can talk his way out of this.

“As long as you are blue, you can’t escape.” And Papyrus reinforces that comment by squeezing his grasp on the mugger, making him gasp and struggle.

“What are you going to do? Talk me out of this? Go on try.” His attacker just laughs at the skeleton, who Papyrus begins to second guess himself.

“Attacking another monster for no reason is no way to live, and threatening to dust them isn’t good either.” Papyrus smiles. “I think you are in need of some guidance. The most hardened monsters can always change. I know that you can do better, even if you don’t think so. I will believe in you if you just try.” This proud skeleton finishes his short statement to the young monster, who hangs his head in shame.

Taking a chance, Papyrus lets go of him. “See. You can do anything. So let’s bybones be bybones.” Standing with his fists on his hips and a wide smile on his face, Papyrus stands proud at the best pep talk he has ever given. There, sometimes, all you need is some good advice and a friend!

The young monster looks up at Papyrus and gives him a shy smile. “You must be Papyrus. I heard about you from some folks from Snowdin.” Behind that shy smile is a soft chuckle, causing this skeleton to get excited. His former attacker knows his name!

"Yes, it is I: The Great Papyrus. Who are you?” Papyrus asks his new friend. The young monster gives a sheepish grin. Turns out, his name is Jeremy.

“Well then, Jeremy, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Papyrus offers a hand but Jeremy decides that he wants at hug and stands open for one. The skeleton gladly accepts and goes in for a hug. “I see that you are offering a hug of acceptance. I welcome you with open arms.” Then tries to let go but Jeremy holds on tight, making our skeleton a little nervous.

Suddenly there is a warmth at his back and a sharp, hot object is stabbed into the back of his jacket, shirt, and pierces his gel. Papyrus screams as the sharp object is pulled up his back to his shoulder and warm liquid starts to ooze out of the wound. Jeremy maniacally laughs at Papyrus’ pain and pushes him down.

“You should see the look on your face. Did you really thing that some words were going to stop me? That telling me that I should set my life straight by becoming your friend when, not two moments ago, I wanted to kill you. What did you think was going to happen? That we were going to be the best of friends?” Jeremy stands over Papyrus, grinning madly. He then reaches down to pluck the skeleton’s wallet out of his pocket, then kicking Papyrus in the face. The impact from the kick causes a sickening crunch from Papyrus head and it breaks his left eye socket. The pain is too much, orange magic is flowing out of the back of his jacket, skull and now Papyrus can’t move. Jeremy turns to walk away but decides to returns for one last punishment.

As the mugger goes to lift his boot to grind the skeletons skull into dust, there is a loud bellow and something grabs him. Papyrus can barely keep his sockets open but he has a clear line of sight of his protector, who crushes Jeremy’s legs into the ground with one massive clawed hand and rips the top part of his body clean off with its teeth, blood flying ever where. Spines lift off the large monsters back and after the sickening crunch that was Jeremy’s spine coming apart, there is a lot of heat as the remaining part of the monster is burned into the pavement with a low hum in the air. The attack is a little overkill but the loud low resonating impact and bright light shake the pavement as dust fills the air. Next is a lot of snorting as a large muzzle turns and nuzzles into Papyrus, whose vision becomes blurry and goes out. He could slightly see large shapes become smaller as a low rough voice calls out to him.

“Pap?..... Pap! Come on!” It sounds like Red, much too low to be Red though. Somebody picks Papyrus up off the ground as numbness starts to take over his body, arms going limp.

“Pap? Bro, come on. Talk … me! Ple…se!” Same voice. It pleads and begs.

“I’m no... los… a…ther ...ne!” Sounds like the other one is crying too but all Papyrus wants to do is sleep. He tries to form words, but he can’t seem to find the energy to talk. Time begins to blur for him. One moment he is in the street, the next he is being carried into oblivion by a warm set of arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, couldn't see that one coming from a mile away. That ending also played off of my feelings to the Papyrus encounter in the genocide run. Really Papyrus? You want to hug the person that wants to stab you? Well that back fired.


	10. Green Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and co have to preform emergency medical attention on Papyrus.

              Inside a quiet bar, a fire elemental is closing up shop for the night. He counts all his money, puts it away in his office safe and finishes up any daily paperwork. It’s quiet inside and besides the little issue in the kitchen earlier today, it was a good day. This elemental just sent out his other employee and busies himself by shutting off all the lights, working his way from his office and goes to lock the big heavy metal door that leads into the alleyway from the kitchen. As flames flicker, lighting his way back through the kitchen, the ground shakes. A bright light comes from out front and this elemental sprints through his restaurant to find the source of the sound.

              It’s hard to see out the windows and past all the dust but Grillby squints hard and spots two figures out on the street, one seems to be carrying the other. They come closer through the dust and _OH SWEET ANGEL ABOVE IS THAT PAPYRUS?_ What the fuck happened out there?!

Opening the door to his bar, Grillby sprints out the front and gets his way over as fast has he can to… Red? Oh fuck dude, you are covered in barbs again. He’s across the street with in seconds to find Papyrus bleeding a large amount of orange gel dripping down Red’s arms and all over the ground. It seeps through his cloths and trails on the ground behind him. Red’s clothes are ripped up and his jacket is full of holes and is barely being held together. It could fall off his frame any minute and Grillby rushes to get the two inside. He also notices something else about Red. He is glowing green. It’s the brightest green he has ever seen from this skeleton.

              “Red, what happened?” Grillby finally says, flames crackling high with worry. Red doesn’t even look up, his eye is crackling with a bright crimson. Tears stain his plump cheeks.

“Some…body…attacked…him.” Red responds through sharp gritted teeth. He is focusing everything he has into his green magic. Grillby can hear him whispering to Papyrus.

“I’ll open the door for you, let’s get him inside the bar.” Grillby offers to Red, who doesn’t speak but pauses at the front door for his boss. The door is opened and Red moves in with speed, graceful like, carrying Papyrus bridal style inside. The trio move to the first large table and crimson magic lifts chairs off the surface and a bleeding skeleton is put in place, who moans.

Red now gets the chance to examine Papyrus, who is alive but is barely holding on, green magic is the only thing keeping him alive. His jaw is broken and dislocated, skull and eye socket is cracked. The green magic slowly closes the smaller breaks and splinters up, bone mending its self, but the larger fractures are what is really bothering Red. He gently rubs Papyrus skull with a thumb trying to close the wounds, which really isn’t helping but this skeleton tries anyway.

“Call Toriel. She’s a better healer than I am and I need her help.” Not even looking up from his target, Red asks Grillby, who then runs off into his office to retrieve his phone. He then returns with the med kit from the kitchen in his arms and his phone up to his ear. It doesn’t take long until he is talking to Toriel and explains the situation to the groggy goat mother. Grillby then hangs up to refocus his attention onto Papyrus and starts patching up his face to reset his jaw. A sick pop is heard and Papyrus jumps yelping in pain. Both are glad that he can still feel but sadly, the other skeleton passes out on the table, marrow dripping everywhere.

              “No nononon, you need to stay awake Pap. Pappy! FUCK.” Red yells with a ruff voice full of worry, practically growling. Grillby continues patching his face and looks to Red.

“You are covered in barbs again. What really happened?” Grillby knows. The elemental lifts a brow at his skeleton friend and waits.

“Once you finish we need to flip him over.” Ignoring the question, Red explains the next move. Grillby presses again, causing Red to growl at him.

“Don’t you growl at me boy, what happened out there?” This elemental might not be his father but the tone is there. Red hisses in return and clicks his teeth. _“Sans, what happened out there?”_ One final ask before Grillby starts getting angry.

“He got attacked! I… I kinda reacted… Ripped the attacker in half… Oops.” Eye lights flick around, evil grin grows on the skeletons face. Both lock eyes and stare at each other. Grillby doesn’t look pleased but Red looks proud of himself.

Both go back to their tasks. Red is feeding Papyrus much needed magic from his own reserves as Grillby finishes patching his face. There. Done.

Just in time too, Toriel finally makes it to the restaurant with Frisk in tow. Both are still clad in their slumber wear and not even missing a beat, Toriel jumps right in, helping with healing. Frisk sits at one of the booths observing this whole operation with a bored expression, not even giving a single care that Papyrus is bleeding out.

              “Okay, we need to lift him up and put him on his front. The gash on his back is deep.” Looking around, Red orders the group. They all nod and wait on his command.

“Toriel, keep healing. Grillby, help me flip him.” Red pushes his arms under Papyrus shoulders from his front and lifts. Grillby grabs his arms and pushes them out of the way as Red moves his body. They have Papyrus in a straight up position, who is slumped over due to being unconscious.

“Okay, move his legs. I’ll put him down slowly.” Red orders. Grillby grabs Papyrus’ legs and pulls them out from under him and soon Papyrus is lying flat on his stomach with his head to the side. Okay, easy part over.

“Grillby, does that kit have scissors? I need to cut his clothes off.” Red asks his helper, Grillby nods and digs through the pack for them. Red has to lift the goo soaked cloth off of Papyrus’ body gel as it sticks. He makes the notion for Grillby to start cutting and soon the cloth is split in two only having to cut the still connect pieces off. The gash is very deep. It reaches from his left hip to right shoulder. Spine and ribs are exposed. Red grimaces hard but works on. He’s kinda glad that Papyrus passed out, otherwise he would be screaming in pain.

“I’ll be right back, need to some hot water. We need to clean his wound. Finish getting his coat and shirt off. Toriel, try closing whatever ends you can.” Red alerts the group. He then teleports out and the kitchen light comes on. His duo do what is asked of them and Red returns just as quickly with a pan full of water, soap, and a large hand full of napkins. Toriel is still healing Papyrus, and Grillby helps Red clean away all the goo. “Just keep his soul alive.” Red says out loud, worried as all can be. Toriel nods along, slightly impressed with Red.

“Is there a suture kit in that?” Quick question from Red, Grillby shakes his head as the skeleton scowls. Tail shakes from behind. What to do. What to do?

 “I do have sewing kits for fabric.” Grillby offers. It’s a kit to repair booths and table cloths.

“Oh Angel, that’s not really good either. Thread is not the best thing to use for sutures. I’ll take it anyway. I’m going to need tweezers and rubbing alcohol. Grillby, do you think that you can boil some water quickly?” Another question from Red. Grillby nods and backs away, heating up his flames. Grillby heads to the kitchen and Red can still feel the heat coming off of him. Toriel has her hands over Papyrus soul through his back and watches carefully.

“Thanks for coming so late Tori… um… sorry…” Red keeps using nicknames. It’s making him uncomfortable. Now he can’t even make eye contact with his helper.

“It’s okay dear. Besides, I promised Papyrus that I would always be there for him and I intend too.” Toriel gives Red a soft smile and pats him on the shoulder with a free hand. The first pan of water is bright orange and Red needs to dump it and get more. He quickly teleports out as Grillby returns with the sewing kit and a mug of boiling water sitting in his hand.

“Toriel, can you thread this? My fingers are too hot.” Grillby asks his other guest. She pauses with healing and threads the needle for the elemental, then dunks it in the water. About then, Red returns with fresh water and smiles. Wow, they are working together. Wait, that’s normal for here. Never mind. Red still smiles.

Toriel did pull enough thread to stitch Papyrus up for now. Red then places the new bowl down, teleports out once again and returns with rubber gloves. He can’t really grip the needle very well with boney fingers.

“Give me the thread. I’ve done this before.” Red reaches out and takes the needle from Toriel. “It’s not like sewing clothes. I need to tie special knots up his back to hold the wound in place.” The goat finally hands it over and in that moment, starts to gaze at Red, studying him. What happened to his clothes?

“Tori, when I finish a section, heal the area enough to close the surface wound. Get it to stop bleeding. His body will do the rest.” Red gives new orders, knocking Toriel out of her own thoughts.

“Grillby, when I stick this needle in, he is going to start bleeding again. Can you wipe the gel away?” Red takes the thread and starts stitching, giving his request to Grillby, who crackles with suspense. Red then wipes the area down with an alcohol wipe, dips the needle into the boiling water for a final bath, pinches gel with his fingers and pushes the needle through with the tweezers. It’s slippery but Red makes it work. His doctoring skills slowly coming back to him. It’s been a while.

“A pair of hemostats would work so much better for this.” Red comments. He is not happy with this option, but it’s the best they have. It’s keeping his roommate alive. The skeleton then ties off the first suture and cuts the thread. Next one is about a half inch up. One down, unknown amount to go.

              “Why didn’t you take him to an emergency clinic?” Frisk finally talks. Red looks back at him. “Because the town council has decided that they don’t what to allocate funding for a 24 hour monster friendly clinic and the ones that are open don’t take critical patients. Plus if we tried to move him, he would be dead before we made it a block down the street.” Flat toned as ever, Red informs Frisk in a surprisingly calm manner. Frisk doesn’t say another word at this point and instead just watches.

It takes a while, but Red finishes with the sutures. Grillby wipes Papyrus body gel down, Toriel is still healing. They are a good team together and it allowed Red to tie a total of 83 sutures down his roommate’s back. Being mindful of the fresh wound, Red jumps in with the healing. Most of the surface has healed but now, its Papyrus soul that this skeleton is worried about. A soul that Red can feel weakening in his grasp.

              “Oh no. Pappy stay with us!” Toriel cries and responds by pushing more. Papyrus is slipping. Too much damage. Too much was exposed. His soul cracks in his chest and dim. Toriel pushes as much as she can. Red starts to pick up more slack and begins to surpass Toriel in the amount of healing magic.

Sadly for Red, Toriel hits her magic limit and sputters out. She has done very well and the skeleton is thankful but now it’s up to him. He realizes this and beings to sweat. Tail behind him flicking back and forth, Red pushes himself. He isn’t going to lose Papyrus if he can help it. Not another one. In his desperation he taps into his magic reserves, digging out crimson magic and giving it to Papyrus. His gel starts to turn from orange to a dark vermilion color, almost crimson and the shattered soul slowly reforms. Poor Papyrus isn’t out of the park yet.

              The transfer of crimson magic over to Papyrus starts to drain Red. His eye lights start to flicker and go dim. Claws seem to push out of his hands. Barbs return, only slightly. Red is pushing as hard as he can without forcing something else.

There is one issue with any red type magic to those that don’t have it themselves; it’s very heavy and tacking on the soul. Red is afraid that this might slowly kill Papyrus if he isn’t careful, but before he has a chance to worry, his eye lights finally go out and his magic drops off. That’s it. Red has used up all the magic he has and falls over onto his back on the floor next to Papyrus with a thud. Air pushes out between his teeth as his jaw closes. Face returns into a neutral stance.

 “Red! Are you okay?” Toriel gasps, then kneels over the other fallen skeleton. Grillby comes over and stands above Red, looking confused. He’s locked up. That’s what happened.

A few moments pass as Red slowly comes back. A small gurgle comes out of Red’s ribs as he lifts himself up off the ground, gel body gone. His magic went into self-defense mode and retracted. No eye lights, no magic is shown.

“Is… is this thing on?” It sounds distant and echoed but Red speaks. Both monsters step back and look at the moving skeleton. If this was any other time, they would be horrified. Even Frisk has perked up from his spot on in his booth.

“Come on…” Skull moves around. “I can’t fucking see right, tell me if ya can hear me.” Still echoed but better. Finally one of the other three confirm the skeleton and he relaxes. Then lets out a low sigh.

Grillby offers his hand out to Red, who takes it to stand. Once Red was back on his feet, he searches for something chair shaped and sits. The skeleton is drained of magic, which means his eye lights are out, which also means that he will no longer be able to emote properly.

 “Uh, Red, that’s kinda creepy, not going to lie.” Frisk makes a comment then yawns wide after that. The child can’t look away either. He’s never seen any of the skeletons do that before, no matter how many resets he’s been in. Red then starts to laugh. Causing all those in the room to look at him.

“I can’t show emotion anymore.” Red keeps laughing in his odd echoed voice. “I’m sitting here pissed off that I can’t see correctly and I can’t even show it. Not even my jaw will open.” Bones rattle and shake from laughter, then Red coughs.

“You aren’t blind now are you?” Frisk asks the giggling skeleton. He sits one of his fingers into his eye socket and scratches the inside. Tail flicks side to side.

“Nope. Um… everything is dark shape with a weird sheen on them. I can still sense magic just, I need my own to properly see, but once I regain it again, I’ll be fine.” Red responds to Frisk, or he hopes he does. “I also can’t really hear. It becomes muffed and sound blends together. Unlike other monsters, skeletons and elementals require a far bit more magic to stay together and function.”

Grillby comes and sits next to Red, something in his hands. He hands Red a rather large tablet of something that he starts to break up and piece by piece, Red starts to place it into his nose. How else is he going to get it in him? By the mouth that can’t move? It’s just a magic booster, much like a sugar tablet for a human.

 “How long is it going to take for you to regain enough magic to see again?” Frisk asks him again. Maybe if Sans was here he would be able to ask a bunch of other types of questions. That makes the child sit back and think a little more.

“I need to rest and eat, build back the magic that I lost. Pap should be fine now. He needs to do the same. I gave him as much of my magic as possible to stop soul decay.” Red explains more while looking over at Papyrus, only thing he can do is turn his skull. Eye lights are still gone and he’s jaw won’t open just yet. Poor Papyrus is still lying on his front but he hasn’t woken up yet.

“I haven’t used that much magic since well…” Red stops himself. Frisk is here. He doesn’t need to open that can of worms up. “Well, since a long time.” Good save. Red then stands and staggers over to look at Papyrus. To him, Pap is a dark figure with a soft vermilion sheen now. This crimson skeleton then runs his hand across the sutures. No ooze, just warmth. Good.

“Somebody needs to patch him up with bandages. I can’t really see to do it.” Looking down and grumbling, Red announces his request and Toriel perks back up with a smile. Something she can do, gladly.

“I’ll get that for you dear.” Toriel grabs some gauze and tape from the med kit. As she starts that, Red struggles to pick up the pot, napkins and mess to takes them to the kitchen. If he could, he would be squinting to see but inside, Grillby comes up beside him and follows behind. Red staggers to the kitchen, blurry surroundings be damned. Grillby waits for Red to dump the pot into the sink and takes over for him.

“I’ll get this. You rest.” Grillby takes over by plucking the napkins out of the sink and filling the pot full of water and soap. He’s going to let that soak overnight. Red isn’t going to argue, like at all.

It suddenly dons on him though. How is he going to get home with an unconscious Papyrus? He doesn’t have enough magic to teleport. Maybe he can get some help or they can spend the night there. Let’s just wait and see. Red then staggers back into the dining room to find what looks to be Frisk helping Toriel with the bandages.

The sheen around Frisk is dark. Too Dark. The child even has …

WHOA, WHAT THE FUCK?

Frisk looked up to Red. His dark figure followed but something red just flashed across the child’s face. A jagged smile and eyes appeared for a moment. Something he would normally not see if he had is normal vision about him.

What the fuck is wrong with Frisk? Red back up and his soul pounds in his chest. There is something wrong with this kid. Something horribly wrong. Red really isn’t in the mood to deal with this nor does he have the energy, but he watches Frisk from afar. He finally sits back down and leans back in the chair, exhaustion taking over his bones. Grillby finally reappears from the kitchen after turning off the lights again and sits in one of the open chairs next to the skeleton.

“Red.” Toriel speaks up to catch the skeletons attention. “What happened?” She inquiries about Papyrus. Red pauses for a moment and sighs. He pops his back and sits up straight, giving her his full attention.

“Well. I just got off from work.” Taking in a breath, Red beings to recall the turn of events that happened outside of Grillby’s restaurant. “Took some trash outside like normal. Grillby was still locking up, so I decided to help him out.” Red then pauses to look at Grillby. He nods. The skeleton then continues with his story.

“I walk out of the alleyway that is next to this building and look across the street to find Papyrus talking to this young monster. He then hugs Papyrus and summons fire at his fingertips. I could see his mouth moving from the light and he yanks his arm up, tearing a large gash into Papyrus’ back. Orange gel starts to spew out. I summon attacks to run over to protect him and a much larger monster steps in first. It attacked me and shredded my clothes, then killed the other monster. I couldn’t see it, but it yanked the other monster into the alleyway and there is a blinding flash. The kid was turned to dust and I had to go and grab Papyrus off the ground. Grillby then runs over and we bring him into the bar. I get him to call you and you know the rest.” Red then looks to Papyrus, who is still unconscious. He carefully gets up this time and checks over Papyrus bandages for leaking gel. His vision is starting to get slightly better, color is returning.

“What do mean by ‘much larger monster’?” Grillby questions. Red looks back. “I don’t know! The lamp above is busted and I couldn’t make it out. Just that it had glowing eyes. I’m pretty sure that tomorrow people are going to be talking about it.” Grillby nods with his comment, trying to help sell Toriel his story. Frisk is starting to fall asleep sitting across to her. It’s time to go home since its 2:47 in the morning by the bar clock. Grillby decides to that he isn’t going to open tomorrow and goes to grab his ‘Not today: Family issues’ sign from his office.

This elemental also has interviews to conduct tomorrow, but that is the only thing he is doing. He will make phone calls in the morning informing his cadets to come around back when they arrive and he will place a another sign in the door specially for them.

Still over by Papyrus, Red starts to roll him on his back. They need to get home so Red can rest and he can get Papyrus warm. His bones have lost a lot of color to them and he’s shaking. Toriel comes over to Red to help roll Papyrus over on the table. The cloth is soaked with gel and marrow.

“Sorry about this table cloth. Mind if I wrap Papyrus up with it? It’s kinda chilly out.” Red asks Grillby. “Go ahead.” Grillby replies back with tired eyes. The cloth is large enough that the duo can swaddle Papyrus up like a baby and get him home.

Suddenly the the front door slams open almost breaking the glass. What stands in the door way is a livid, magic crackling fish monster, Undyne, and she is not happy. Her red hair is a mess, her ear fins are fully open and she has a tank top, exercise shorts and boots on. Clearly not dressed for the weather but came out anyway. She grits her pointed teeth together and looks around with her one good eye.

“I heard reports about a fight in the street. Eye witnesses recall that a skeleton monster was attacked by a green monster with fire magic.” She says, growling through her teeth, then walks into the dining room with the rest of the monsters.

“There was a blinding flash and that another even larger skeleton monster appeared. Location description placed the events outside of this bar. I got worried and headed over. There are left overs of an orange puddle and a small trail heading across the street over to this location with a massive amount of white dust in the air and melted pavement. There is only one skeleton that I know that has orange gel that comes this way home. Why didn’t you call me when this first happened!?” She rants, cyan magic crackling.

“Dear, we are sorry.” Toriel speaks up. “But we needed to get him stable.” She then gestures to the rest in the restaurant. Red puts Papyrus down for a moment after the goat monsters comment.

“It’s my job to watch over monsters and this happens to my best friend? I don’t think so!” Undyne vents further. She looks over to Red. “You.” She points with a clawed finger. Red gives her the best irritated expression to he can give. Undyne storms over to him.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you are doing. You hired that young boy to attack Papyrus so you could save him.” Undyne accuses Red in hushed tones. Did she just? If he could, Red would open his jaw wide.

“Are you blaming me for this?” Red aggressively states through his teeth, growling hard. Toriel and Grillby approach these two. Frisk stays in the booth, almost asleep. Red moves closer to Undyne, chest to chest.

“Undyne, what is the meaning of this?” Toriel asks her in shock. Undyne looks to her with her good eye.

“There is a rumor going around that he is abusing Papyrus. I’m just trying to protect my friend.” Undyne points at Red. He can’t show much emotion, but from what they can gather from his body language, he is very pissed off as bones shake in anger.

“Don’t you start this shit again. Where is your proof?” Grillby stands behind Red in an attempt to hold him back. Undyne looks down at Papyrus. He is still out. She moves over to him and goes to reach for him.

“I’m going to bring him to my house. Where he can get the proper help he needs.” Red grabs Undyne’s arm. It takes everything in his power not to break it. He grows deeply and his tail flicks madly all around. “No you’re not.” He then pulls her arm back and shoves it down. This is it, he is ready to throw down. Magic or not, he’s going to fuck Undyne up, who doesn’t back off.

“You are unqualified to take care of him.” Fish monster yells back, ear fins flick, teeth click. Red, still unable to show emotion, leans forward and growls with claws out.

“Unqualified? Out of all of us in this room, I’m the only one who is OVER qualified. I used to be in charge of a medical team!” Red then balls his fists and shakes them at Undyne. He has to be a little over dramatic, but it works. He is getting lucky though, some emotion is returning.

“I have formal medical training, unlike your girlfriend who thinks she is a doctor! Because I know damn fucking well that either of you don’t know anything about medicine.” Red yells. Low blow. Undyne draws back. It’s on.

“If it wasn’t for Papyrus, you wouldn’t have any friends. Everybody turns away from you. You are the most unfriendly person around and you horribly insult the name of the monster that you happen to share a face with.” That’s a hit below the belt. Red draws back like he has been hit. Somehow with limited magic, the area around Red becomes darker.

  **“You over pretentious gold fish brained guppy fuck.”** Red’s voice echoes deeply this time. Deeper than it’s been before. Undyne stands tall and gazing down at the skeleton with a smirk.

 **“You think you can bring me down with words? I’m not some kinda of pathetic monster from your world.”** There is a spark of crimson with in Red’s left eye socket. If he could, the whole left side of his head would be on fire. Red then turns his back to Undyne and goes to pick up Papyrus and carries him bridal style in the dining room. The negative energy still surrounds the livid skeleton. He looks to Grillby and Toriel.

 **“When he wakes up, I’ll give you guys a call.”** He still speaks with the echo. He looks back at Undyne. **“Until then, stay the fuck away from us.”**

Still livid as can be, Red finishes his statement and walks out of the restaurant, leaving everybody behind, tail flicking behind him madly. He walks down King Street in the dead of the night, past the blacken ground where the young monster once stood, and makes his way home. This skeleton even manages to get his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door to the apartment complex, then walks up the three flights of stairs and is home within no time allowing the power of anger and hate to fuel him.

Once in the apartment, Red walks pass the living/dining room and down into the tiny hall. Thankfully Papyrus’ bedroom door is still open and he places the still unconscious skeleton on his bed, who shakes and is still has a very dull tone to his bones. Red quickly darts out of his roommate’s bed room and goes into his, grabbing his pink blanket off his bed and carries it back to Papyrus, tucking him in. He then rubs his hands together and his tail shakes behind him. It’s a quick motion but Red gives papyrus a small skeletal kiss on his forehead and nuzzles into his roommate. Okay, time for a chair.

Leaving the room one more time for the night, Red scoots his way over into the dining room, grabs one of the chairs and carries it back to Papyrus’ bed side, sitting down and lays his chest on the bed.

 Even though he is physically and magically exhausted, he is going to watch over Papyrus for the night. Red feels responsible. If he just got out of work just a moment sooner, Papyrus would still be okay. He could have stopped that kid, just like he could have stopped his own brother’s death if he just reacted sooner... Clawed hands go up to tired sockets as tears streak down the skeletons chubby face. Red finally allows himself to tear up and cry, then lays his head down on the side of the bed and waits. He tries to keep his sockets open for as long as he can but ends up passing out in the wee hours of the rising sun.

\----

A grey haze. Papyrus floats in a grey haze, nothing but a warm calming light surrounds him. He feels at peace with no pain and closes his sockets, taking in all the feelings around him. A familiar feeling comes up beside him and starts to drag him back down, then a voice. It’s his brother! Papyrus fights to open his sockets and looks to the light blue apparition that holds him.

“Sans!? Is that really you?” Papyrus asks, almost in tears. The feeling of love and relief overwhelms his soul as his brother nods. “But I thought… That would mean…” Sans silences his brother with a hug.

“No. You are in between. Somebody is holding on to you.” Sans then holds up his brothers arms. They are faded and starting to disappear.

“You need to return. You need to grow old and have children of your own. Do this for me.” Papyrus breaks free from the grasp and holds onto Sans. He doesn’t want to let go. Never again. Sans on the other hand, finishes dragging his brother down out of the haze. Papyrus begins to feel heavy, like a force is pulling him down. A smile grows over Sans’ face.

“Go back. As hard as this is, our time is over. Somebody else needs you now.” Sans takes Papyrus into his room as his vision goes blurry, sockets get heavy. Sans holds his brothers skull and touches his teeth to his forehead with a slight tink.

“I love you so very much and there is a lot more I wish I could have done with you, but I’ll see you around, even when you don’t notice.” Sans then places Papyrus’ soul back into his body. He rubs brother’s skull and disappears into the haze. Before Papyrus finally settles back into his body, he could see his roommate sleeping on the edge of his bed and can just barely make out a dark vermilion apparition behind him. Papyrus finally lays his head down with a small smile and slowly opens his one good eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't ever try giving yourself stitches. Go to the emergency room if you need medical attention that requires sutures.


	11. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wakes up, Red gets the spend the day home, Grillby finally hires new people.

              Fire shoots up a skeleton’s back as he lays in bed. His arms are bound to his sides. A soft blanket is placed on top and there is snoring is at his side. This skeleton doesn’t try to wiggle, he doesn’t try to speak. Right now, he’s just more focused on staying awake... but overwhelming anger is staring take over his skull. This skeleton finally starts to wiggle. He wants to be freed, NOW.

              The movement wakes up the other sleeping skeleton leaned over on the side of the bed with a snort. He blinks and rubs his sockets, light burns as he tries to work the exhaustion out. Tail finally starts to wiggle and a large yawn splits his teeth but it’s met with a growl from the bound skeleton. Oh hey, his jaw is moving again. Good! It also seems like his body came back so that’s a plus. Red now looks over at a bound and tired Papyrus in his still destroyed clothing.

              “Don’t…” Another yawn causes Red to pause and take another breath. “Don’t you growl at me Pap.” That also gets a chuckle out of him, forcing him to pause. The bad angle he spent a few hours in is finally catching up and Red has to force pops from his back. “You gave us quite a scare.”

              Papyrus finally squints his one good eye, the world is blurry, and growls again. “Free me!” After he speaks, he hacks rather harshly. The hard coughs rock his tired body and he tries to turn away. The broken jaw makes him drool and he can’t seem to open his other eye up. Papyrus starts crying from all the pain and is gasping shallow breaths. It hurts so badly.

              “Red… what… happened?” Low moans come from Papyrus as he wheezes. Red smiles softly, glad that his roommate is coming back pretty quickly. His tail flicks from behind him as a hand comes up and is placed on the bound skeleton’s skull. Feels warm.

              “Hang on, I’ll be back. Just rest a moment.” It takes Red few seconds but he gets up out of his chair and hobbles out of the room. As aggressive as Papyrus is feeling right now, he doesn’t want to be alone and sobs a little bit more, moaning softly. Another second later, Red returns with a glass of water and some painkillers. He places items on the bedside table and reaches over to Papyrus, pulling off the soft blanket.

“This is going to hurt a lot. I’m sorry.” Red hooks Papyrus’ shoulders and lifts him into a sitting position. Papyrus cries in pain in response and his breathing becomes shaky. Red then grabs the items from before, holding the glass of water in one hand, pills in the other.

“Open.” Red instructs Papyrus in his doctor’s voice. He then places the pills in the other skeletons mouth and pours water on top. “Swallow.” Red instructs again. Water drabbles down the side of Papyrus’ mouth and Red wipes that away with his hand. Then wipes his hand on his pants as he sits back down in the chair. Bones are still sore for both skeletons but Red is just glad that Papyrus is okay.

              Speaking of Papyrus, he doesn’t move until the pain dulls. It’s still a sharp pain, just not quiet on fire anymore and preps himself for the worst. Taking in another sharp breath, Papyrus speaks.

“Red.” Tall skeleton moans. “What happen?” Papyrus has to ask, he needs to know. If memory serves correctly, he does remembers getting hurt and hitting the ground, just not much after right now.

Red blinks a few times, thinking of what to say. “Short version?” Sitting skeleton starts. “Okay, well, you were attacked.” Red begins to recall this story. Papyrus nods along.

              “I just got out of work. You were being hugged by some other monster kid. Remember anything about him?” Red has some suspicions that he might know this monster but pauses for Papyrus to stop and think. Everything is hazy and too loud.

“He was a little shorter than me. Long white fangs. One eye. Green fur and horns. I think he said his name was Jimmy? No, I don’t think that’s right.” Papyrus stops. Red scoots closer in his chair and places his hands up and grasps Papyrus’.

“Don’t think too hard right now. I do know who you are talking about though.” Looking guilty, Red takes a moment and tries to explain. Papyrus looks at him with a dull wide tired eye and tilts his head to the side.

“That younger monster attacked me before. A while ago, before you moved in. I fought back and told him to leave others alone. Guess he didn’t listen.” Red quickly explains. He’s about to speak again but Papyrus jumps in first.

              “Something big pulled him off of me.” Tired skeleton wheezes. Red blinks a few times. Time to lie a little, tail flicks behind.

“Yea, I saw it run off into the alleyway. It was BIG. Don’t really know what it was. It had glowing eyes. That’s the best I got.” Coming up with a lie, Red expertly keeps eye contact with Papyrus, who lays his head into his pillow to rest, large smile on his face.

“It protected me Red, I just know it.” Papyrus closes his eye, smile starting to falter.  Red mumbles as he looks away, large smile on his teeth.

              “How bad is my face?” Papyrus asks, without opening his eyes. His roommate lets out a laugh.

“The fall broke your left eye socket and your attacker dislocated your jaw. Eating is going to be hard for a few days but we match though.” Red gives a slight chuckle. Papyrus is going to be in pain for a good while.

“Also.” Crimson skeleton adds. “You have a nasty gash that runs up your back. From your left hip to your right shoulder. 83 stitches. Try not to bend too much.” That comment alone causes Papyrus to let out a low groan. That explains the piercing pain up his back. “You also have a crack on the back of your skull.” Red finishes explaining Papyrus injuries, then stands. Clawed hand reaches into a pocket and Red pulls out his phone. The battery is almost gone and its reads almost 2pm, hot shit did they sleep late, damn.

“I need to make a few phone calls, then I’ll will be back. Rest for me, okay?” Red departs from his room.

Papyrus listens to Red leave his room. He starts to cry a little more, angry at himself. That strange anger returns, it’s dull at first but grows stronger. This tall skeleton thought that he could talk his way out of this and he was almost killed. How stupid could one skeleton be to allow something like that happen!? He should have fought back, or ran across the street when he had the chance. The thing was, Papyrus was right at Grillby’s!

Memories play back from the attack as Papyrus cries in anger. His magic races and lifts his hands to his sockets to hold his head. Okay, this is no time to dwell on things. Red did say that he has stitches up his back but looking down, Papyrus realizes that he’s… wrapped in a table cloth and shirtless? What? Shaky hands peel open the cloth and a tired eye finds that its owner’s once bright orange gel is now a dull orange mixed with crimson swirls. What is this? Only person he knows that has crimson magic is Red. What did he do to him? Papyrus want’s answers and he wants them NOW, but Red’s voice drifts down the hall. Sound’s pleasant.

Slowly peeling back the table cloth, Papyrus turns himself on stiff arms and places his feet on the floor. With a push, the wobbly skeleton stands on two legs and staggers forward. He turns back around to find his sheets soaked with marrow and gel. Papyrus then stumbles over to his bedroom mirror and watches his magic swirl around with the extra colors. Just looking at it makes him angry and at this point, Papyrus doesn’t know if it’s the added magic or real anger. All he needs to know is what permitted a magic transfusion without his permission and follows the sound of Red’s voice out of his bedroom.

Finding Red pacing around the living room, with a change of clothes on, it seems like he’s talking to somebody and its all praise. With a dull tired socket, even Papyrus can see a genuine smile plastered on Red’s face.

“Yeah. He is awake and very coherent. I had to give him pain meds. Yeah. Yeah. Oh he is going to be fine. The crimson magic that I gave him hasn’t killed him, just made him aggressive. Yeah, I was worried about that too. No. He is going to be fine. Don’t worry. I’ll have him call you later. I have to call Grillby. He was worried too. Yeah, Bye.” Red then hangs the phone up with a clawed finger. Must have been Toriel. He sure as hell isn’t going to call Undyne. Papyrus isn’t even sure if he has her number. The tall skeleton then stumbles his way into Red’s view as he glances over from his pacing, eye sockets going wide.

“Hey! You’re supposed to be on bed rest.” Red practically growls out, two can play at this angry game. Papyrus slowly moves closer, stumbling along, hand on his belly. That gets a tail flick from Red and he glares at the skeleton.

“What is this?” Papyrus glares back, eye socket watering. Standing so suddenly was a bad idea. He feels dizzy and has to grab the wall for support. Knees wobble and Red is over to his roommate in a few steps, holding him up and bringing him over to the couch for him to sit.

 “You were dying Pap. I had to give you some of my magic.” That explanation seemed to calm Papyrus down for a moment as Red gets closer to look him over. “You aren’t used to red type magic yet. It’s what is making you aggressive. Please rest.” Red’s gaze is harsh. That wasn’t a request. Unfortunately for the both, Papyrus starts to fidget and stands up from the couch. Red looks at him with a questioning glace and shrugs. The pain might still be getting him.

“Well, if you insist on standing, then let me look at your back. The bandages need to be replaced.” Still mad at Red, Papyrus obeys and allows his roommate to touch him. The stocky skeleton then stands up and steps behind the taller one, gazing up and down his back. Clawed fingers dig into the dirty bandages and in one swoop, rips them off, not even giving a warning. Papyrus yelps in pain and falls back into Red. His roommate pushes the wobbly skeleton back on his feet and drags his patient to the bathroom.

Old bandages are balled up and tossed into the trash. Patient gives a glare at his caretaker and refuses to sit. As Red tries to reach for the bandage on Papyrus face, the tall skeleton growls and clicks his teeth at him, leaving Red looking slightly offended.

“Fucking work with me dude. I need to get that one off.” Clawed fingers move swiftly once again and rips the face bandage right off. Papyrus gives a loud ‘Nyeh’ and blinks a few times, allowing light back into his socket. The difference in sight is pretty bad but it will take a few moments for it to adjust. Next ball of dirty bandages into the trash.

“Any sight damage?” Doctor Red is back on the case. Papyrus responds with a no and Red finally turns to bend over to dig his med kit out from under the sink. He unzips the little red and white back and inside sits gauze, tape, scissors and ointment. A quick hand wash and Red is ready to reapply gaze.

“Sit dude, I need to put this on your face.” Growling and obeying, Red is getting sick of the growling and his tail flicks back and forth, Papyrus sits on the toilet lid. With a quick squeeze of the tube, out comes soft glowing green ointment. It’s picked up by Red’s clawed thumb and generously applied on Papyrus face. The ointment is concentrated green magic from back home and Papyrus hisses in pain. Red isn’t really being gentle either and the surface cracks on his socket get smaller on the patient’s face.

It’s cold but does the trick. A once burning wound cools down and a soft breathe from the tall skeleton. He blinks a few times and yawns. Exhaustion coming back to him.

 “Now, turn your head. There’s a spot that I need to get there too.”  Papyrus listens as his mind is starting to become lethargic. Eye sockets droop, mind slows down. Red finishes rubbing the ointment in. “Face towards the shower. I need to reapply bandages on your back.” Once last order, Papyrus slowly turns to the shower. He drones as his mind starts to wonder.

The younger skeleton is brought back with a shake on his shoulder. Red must be finished. One last request from his doctor of a roommate.

“There is one more thing you need to do before you can go back to sleep. You gotta eat something for me. A sandwich will do fine.” Red brings Papyrus over to the dining room table and has him sit, which the tired skeleton nods along with. It takes the tall one a moment but he finally sits, allowing his roommate to step over to the fridge. As Red starts to prepare the meal for his roommate, Papyrus starts to doze off and he jumps when a plate is placed in front of him. Papyrus almost falls asleep eating it and it takes him a painfully long time to finish it off but Red is happy none the less.

Once that’s over, Red pulls Papyrus up off the chair and starts to lead Papyrus back to his room, but it seems like his roommate is putting up a fight.

“No… wanna… wanna stay out… ‘ere… no be alone…. Hun?” Tired skeleton doesn’t want to be alone. Okay, Red can work with that. He then pulls Papyrus over to the couch and sits. Papyrus is quickly behind and leans on Red within moments, falling asleep a second after. Well then. Looks like Red is stuck for a bit.

And a bit it is, until he waits long enough for Papyrus to be in a deep enough sleep so he can get up and clean. There is a chair that has to be moved back to the kitchen and bed sheets that need to be washed.

Busy bee once again, Red pads around on bare feet, putting away the chair, pulling nasty sheets off a bed and washing up the dishes from the kitchen. During this time, Papyrus has still been asleep. Red made sure to not make too much nose for his roommate and returns to the couch. He really hopes the magic converts soon as he doesn’t need an aggressive skeleton with stitches up his back. That was a nightmare when his own brother was in that state.

While sitting on the couch, Red pulls his dying phone back out and dials another number: Grillby. Within two rings, his boss answers hoping for good news, and what good news does Red give.

Both are right to the point of the conversation. Red explains what’s going on with Papyrus and how he is currently sleeping on his belly. Once Red sat back down, Papyrus clinged to his side and hasn’t let go. Turns out, Grillby called Muffet and let her know what happened to Papyrus. What a nice old man, really.

It’s almost time for Grillby to start interviewing people so Red has to let him go, all the while with Papyrus still snoring away. Well, seems like Red stuck on the couch and there isn’t much else to do. His belly gurgles, should have made himself food when he had the chance. Already, there is bound to be rumors of conversation about what happened last night. Maybe a little TV won’t hurt.

Oh shit, the news station is talking about what happened last night! Ahahahaha. Red has to bite back a gross chuckle as it would shake his belly and wake Papyrus. Don’t need him waking up now.

 “Last night, there were reports of screaming and a blinding flash out on King Street after midnight. Eye-witness reports say that a large bipedal monster yanked another smaller green monster off of the sidewalk. The green monster has since disappeared and the larger monster can’t be identified.” The human anchorwoman addresses the screen. She is an older gal with wrinkles in her face. “And he won’t ever be.” Red chuckles, then changes the channels, looking for something to watch. He sinks into the couch with Papyrus. This feels nice, almost homely.

“This here is how you noodle a fish.” A large fat man says holding a fish through its gills. Fishing, Nope. “And he hits the ball into the socket. Oh it misses.” An announcer says over the screen. Billiards is on TV? It’s better in a bar, with alcohol. Nope. “Spy, are you sapping my sentry?” Says man dressed with a red construction est uniform on. He says it to a taller man with a blue ski mask and suit on. There is canned laugher in the back ground. What? This looks kinda goofy. On, now there is running. And fire! Oh Red likes this.

What the fuck is this show? Red enjoys the rest of the episode and chuckles along. He didn’t really understand what was happening, but it was funny. Once time has passed, his stomach gurgles again, this time with a vengeance. It makes Red try to weasel himself out of Papyrus death grip and head into the kitchen for some leftovers. Let’s try to not eat all the food in the fridge raid. As temping as it is, his magical exhaustion is really starting to catch up on him and he’s starting to consider doing bad acts to the sleeping skeleton.

SOUP IS GOOD. IT KEEPS RED SANE. EAT THE SOUP.

Grabbing the cold pot from the fridge, Red places it on the counter and fetches himself a bowl and spoon. Yes. Now to nuke the soup. He then shoves it in the microwave, sets the timer and walks away. The phone in his pocket beeps and sounds like a text of some kind. Turns out, it’s almost drained of power. Time to plug it in. Red tries to teleport but only some crimson crackles around him. Darn.

“Looks like I’m walking.” One head shake later, Red arrives in his room, plugs his phone in on the charging cable and can hear the microwave buzz in the kitchen. He practically skips to his snack and prances up to the small beeping door. Red then opens it, grabs the really hot bowl and takes it over to his table with a smile. Spoon in, the food is luke warm at best. Internal screaming as Red eats it anyway. He eats in silence. The bowl is hot but the soup is cold. Why? He’s too lazy to cook it again anyway. Nothing like cold soup all alone to warm the soul.

While still waiting on his roommate to wake up, Red hobbles over to his room and grabs a fun little device that was buried in his closet. He has nothing better to do so he might as well play with the time continuum. Good hobby. Also taking a moment, Red plugs his phone into the charger beside his bed. There, it won’t power down now.

The device is buried deep in this skeleton’s closet since he doesn’t want anybody to play with it. Depending on where they would have ended up, it will not end well. Red then takes it out to the living room where there is more light and turns it on, Papyrus still asleep on the couch. The device sits in a bag with a small hand held screen that is connected to it. It’s about the size of a phone book with a phone for the interface. It’s a pretty cool thing really, but it isn’t safe to play with.

Clawed fingers tap around in the menu of his AU device. Other worlds pop up and there are a few connected activities going on. If Red wanted too, he could talk to those other worlds but right now, maybe it’s just best to view. Some of the AU’s he’s managed to visit haven’t been too good and he does not need to repeat any of that again.

Back in Red’s mind, he thinks about home. It’s been a while but there’s nothing left. He double checks just to make sure. All the monsters are dead and the child hasn’t done any rests, which is a plus. A grim thought does pop up in his skull. If he were to die, would his world reset? There really is no way to find out and Red isn’t about to commit suicide by any chance. He’s not like that. Maybe one day, Red can take Papyrus out. He would really enjoy that. There are a few worlds just like his own, but Red wouldn’t have a good reason to return unless he dragged Papyrus along. It’s safe to say that fells don’t get along very well and even if Red did have Papyrus with him, there is still a chance that things might go wrong.

 Speaking of Papyrus, the sleeping skeleton starts to wiggle and his sockets slowly open. Oh. Look who’s awake now. Red turns the device off and places the screen back in his bag. He gently rubs the top of Papyrus skull and smiles, waiting for his roommate to full wake up.

“Heya sleeping beauty, how ya doing?” It’s a soft tease but Red tries to get this snuggly skeleton to wake up more. Papyrus finally realizes what he’s been doing and tries to push away. Red just hushes him and tells him it’s okay that he can rest there, which this tall skeleton is going to need more of. Slurred words are awful and it’s even worse when it’s coming from Papyrus. Tall skeleton blinks a few times and rubs his socket.

“Is your socket bothering you?” Red asks as he tries to get a better look. Papyrus blinks a few times and nods, getting a wide smile from Red. His tail flicks under his leg and a soft hum comes from this crimson skeleton. “Want an eye patch? I have one.” Finally a normal jest from Red, which Papyrus gives him a tired scowl and turns away. This tall skeleton still feels a little dizzy and lays his head back down on Red’s belly. Red on the other hand, picks his device back up and flips through the screens again.

“What’s that?” Papyrus asks, looking up from the warm belly. It dons on Red, he’s never really told Papyrus about any of this. If this younger skeleton is anything like his brother, then learning about mechanical devices would interest him. Red shakes his head with a wide smile.

“It’s the device that brought me here.” Red beans with a wide smile as Papyrus look on with interest on tired sockets. The gears turn in the tall skeletons head and he squints up at his roommate.

             

              “So if that’s how you got here, did you use that to visit other worlds? If so, what where they like?” Papyrus askes Red completely off guard. His smile falters for a moment as he has to think for a moment. Tail shakes as memories come back. Grim… dark memories.

              “I visited many worlds but not all of them where good…” Hollow sockets. Red tries to shake off the shiver up his spine. Tail wiggles in place. “The swapped ones where fun though.” His smile finally returns with a dry ‘heh’.

              “Swapped? OH YEA! Sans told me about those.” Oh, so Papyrus does know a little bit into this. That takes a bit of pressure off of Red. “Yea, I’ve met my swapped clone. He was cool. Went by the name of Honey. Smoked a lot of pot.” Finally sitting up, Papyrus shrugs off his other clone and closes his bad socket.

              “Heh, yea, I know of a Honey too. A few other me’s, other much scary and darker worlds; Short version, I’ve been around.” Without asking, Red leans in to check Papyrus face. His eye socket still looks swollen and inflamed.

              Back to checking Papyrus over, Red looks into his roommate’s body gel and notices the swirling is going down. Papyrus backs up and looks Red right in the sockets, both sockets open.

              “I was saved by a large bone dragon, Red. Where does that fit in the multiverse?” It takes everything in Red’s power not to twitch at Papyrus’ question. He’s so close to figuring it out, Red is almost impressed if it didn’t worry him. Papyrus gets impatient and asks another question. “Sans told me about a few worlds like that but I could never get him to tell me more.”

              “Uh… well… I once met a world where the brothers there could shape shift. That was a lot of running I’ll tell you. Phew…” Good save. Red tries really hard to change the subject but Papyrus isn’t letting off. Tail behind Red flicks harder and he’s trying really hard to not react.

              “H-hey… one day I can take you to Underfell… how does that sound?? It’s one of the worlds that I’m not going to be attacked the moment we walk out of the portal.” Sweats beads down Red’s skull and he fans off his face. Steam starts to raise off his face and neck. It seems like Papyrus agrees to this and backs off but looks hesitant. Red calmly tells him that they will go long after he recovers.

              The day is rolling over into the late evening and Red can hear the phone is his room buzz, so runs down the hall to retrieve it. He looks at the screen and its Grillby calling. Slightly winded skeleton sits on his bed and answers with a tap.

“Hey Grillby. What’s up?” Red asks trying to not sound too out of breath.

“I found four other helping hands that can start tomorrow.” Grillby sounds very pleased. Finally, they have some help in the back.

“Sweet! What did you hire them to do?” Red is shocked but glad. Finally he can have more than a single day off every week.

“I hired another cook, two waiters, and somebody else that will be helping you in the back. This will take so much stress off of us.” Grillby sounds relieved. This is the best news Red has had all day.

“These are the candidates that can start tomorrow. I hired a few more and I will post the schedule tomorrow.” Grillby crackles over the phone. Good. The kitchen is going to fill up and work properly now. That’s all Grillby wanted to tell Red, so they say their goodbyes and hang up. Tomorrow is going to be a good day for the both.

Taking a moment, Red travels over to the laundry room to run Papyrus’ sheets back through the dryer once last time. He kinda forgot about them and they are still a little damp. Cheap dryer. During the lint removal, Red can hear Papyrus’ dull voice down the hall. Seems like his own surprise phone call inspired the taller skeleton. The conversation sounds okay. Wonder who that is?

Papyrus hangs the phone up with a sigh and turns to find Red traveling back down the hall way to return to the couch. He turns to find Red giving him a questionable look. “That was Muffet. Turns out Grillby talked to her already. She said that I could have another day off, but I’m going back tomorrow for second shift.” Papyrus quickly explains. Red relaxes. “Besides. I texted Undyne earlier. I told her that I’m not up to talking and that I will call her tomorrow. I guess she seemed glad to hear from me.” Papyrus shrugs.

Red gives a smile to Papyrus, who frowns and assumes it about Undyne. “Grillby called me. He hired new people.” Red tells him. Papyrus drops his frown and gives a quick smile. It hurts his jaw but he powers through it.

“Oh, that’s great! Grillby will finally have a working kitchen like he did back in the underground.” Papyrus says with a chipper voice. “Speaking of kitchen. I think it’s time to make some dinner.” Papyrus says. Both of them are hungry, but Red thinks he should cook again and the duo argue for a moment. Red strongly thinks Papyrus should stay off of his feet for a bit.

 “Fine, do what you have too Red.” Papyrus says finally giving up. He has been through too much to argue about who is making dinner. Red gleefully smiles as he hobbles over to the fridge to grab the left over pot of soup from last night to reheat. It’s always better the next day and Red is going to prove this.

However this time, the duo gladly finish off the remaining soup. There’s enough here for another meal but both are so magic starved that they can’t seem but to help it. Finally with full bellies, and after a round of clean the dishes, both decide to call it a night. Red staggers down the hall with Papyrus right behind him. Luckily for Papyrus, he had an extra set of sheets so they don’t have to put his bed back together in their current state. Both are too tired to even care at this moment.

“Night Pap…” A large yawn splits Red’s jaws as he lumbers into his room, Papyrus watches him go, hands up to his chest. He doesn’t want to be left alone tonight. Doesn’t feel safe in his room and stands out in the hall, trying to decide what to do. He can hear Red move around in his room but is too afraid to ask. Soon soft snoring sounds out from behind Red’s door leaving Papyrus all alone.

Taking a brave stance, Papyrus slightly opens Red’s door and pokes his head into his roommate’s room. Hum, not that dirty this time.

“Red… hey sleepy bones.” A voice above a slight whisper, Papyrus calls in to the darkness. He tries again and Red finally pops up with a snort, blinking his own sockets and trying to clear his vision.

“What?” Its groggy and almost a growl. Red hates being woken up if it’s not important and since he doesn’t smell fire, it’s not important.

“I’m… afraid of being alone…” The sorrow in his voice is almost tangible. Red lets out a low sigh and his bed moves, along with a foot that kicks out his sheet, exposing soft glowing crimson and most of his body. His face goes right into his pillow as this fat crimson skeleton allows his roommate to bunk with him for the night.

Papyrus darts into his room for a quick moment, forces on a pair of shorts and returns with his pillow, almost excited but still hobbling in pain. He’s not going to be alone tonight. Slim little body quickly finds its way into the tight space that is Red’s bed and gets settled. The sheet over hanging is bed is nice! Makes it a cozy den in here. Red turns onto his back and looks up at the sheet with Papyrus.

“Ya didn’t want me to leave you earlier too. Something you want to tell me?” A crimson and a white eye light shine dimly in the darkness. Red turns his head to look at Papyrus and lifts a bone brow.

“I uh… really enjoy your company…” Papyrus mumbles. It seems like he took Red’s buddy comment to heart and it gives Red the largest smile he’s had since he came to this over world. Tail taps up under his leg and Red scoots a little closer. He nuzzles into Papyrus’ shoulder and mumbles a good night, soul swelling and glowing brightly in his chest. Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys got the Team Fortress 2 reference. That game is my one true love, and if I could combine these two I would be in heaven. Red would make a great lazy Pyro since he has so much fire magic.  
> Also, all the mention AU's belong to their rightful owners.


	12. Building Expletives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well then. Undyne visits and it all goes to hell.

              It takes a few days, but Papyrus is fully back on his feet. He had a rather quick recovery time, but that was no surprise to Red. This Papyrus is shockingly similar to his own brother in terms of gusto and spunk.

When Grillby’s finally opened after the incident, the restaurant opened in full speed ahead mode. It finally became a full scale kitchen after six months of being open. Our Red has worked there for four. The new staff was a lively bunch. Grillby put Red in charge of the kitchen, since he did most of his work back there for a while and their first day together generated more revenue than the last two weeks combined. It was safe to say that this was the much needed ‘pick me up’ for Grillby and his restaurant. Alongside that, Red got a pay raise.

Grillby hired a new cook, Racheal, a human woman who is slightly on the heavy side. She was a cook at one of the best family restaurants in town before the management imploded. Grillby hired two new waiters, Claudia and Max. Claudia is a college age spider monster with a light red shell and a low pony tail. Max is a rather spunky young man that has a small lisp. And then there is Audrey, Red’ new helper. She is a fish monster that just needed a job. Together they make evening shift. There are three other employees that Grillby hired, but they have yet to start.

              Grillby doesn’t have to stay all day anymore due to the new hires. He can come and go has he pleases, but since his name is on the side of the building, it’s not a complete sight without the elemental behind the counter. Red can relax somewhat, now that he has help. The new crew had a very great first week together. It was the most fun either of the regulars have had in a while.

              The work week draws to a close, and it turns over to the day that the restaurant isn’t open. Red gets to enjoy his day off and he plans on doing nothing. Score. He gets to sink into his couch and watch mindless TV. That is, until Papyrus comes in through the front door with eye sockets full of tears. Oh great, he is having another bad day.

              Red watches him rush in and then run down to his room. He then reaches to his coffee table and picks the remote up, then clicks the TV off. Wonder if Pap is okay. Red furrows his brow line and gets up off the couch to check the time from the kitchen. It’s just after noon. Well this seems like a nice start to a shitty day.

              Slowly walking out of the kitchen and down his hall, Red can hear Papyrus weeping within his room, his door isn’t closed all the way. He knocks on his door frame and announces his presence. Then opens the door all the way with his clawed hand and finds that Papyrus has pulled off his top sheet to his bed and has balled up into a free corner of his room. Must be pretty bad. Papyrus is crying too hard to notice that Red has entered his room and walks over to Papyrus. A quick back pressed into to the wall, all the while minding the tail, this crimson skeleton slides down to sit with his roommate.

The blanket burrito that is Papyrus finally notices Red there and looks over to him, face soaked with tears, cheeks bright orange from all the crying. Red awkwardly places his arm around him and pulls him in. Emotional issues are not something that he likes getting wrapped up in, but he can’t stand seeing Papyrus like this. It doesn’t help that all the crying is starting to annoy Red. Papyrus leans into Red’ embrace.

              “Red.” Papyrus quietly askes, voice croaking. “Is…is there an alternate realty where my father lived? Where Sans and I live with him on the surface?” The blanket burrito chokes up more just asking that, getting a frown from Red.

“Oh Papyrus, don’t do that to yourself. No.” Red hugs him, rubbing circles in his back, avoiding the scar. Papyrus cries more in the grasp. “I know it’s hard. I know this is something that you never wanted to deal with in your life, but don’t do that to yourself.” Now he starts crying. This needs to end. Fucking A. It’s the ‘what it could have been’ thoughts. Those really hurt. Papyrus sobs into Red’s shoulder as he continues his attempt at consoling his roommate.

“Shhh. I don’t want you to think about what it could have been. Be glad with what you had. Be glad that you got to know the man. Be glad that you had a loving relationship with them.” Red tries to distract Papyrus from his sorrows with a forced smile. He’s starting to hit his limit for physical contact, but he pushes through it for Papyrus. The tall skeleton has seemed to stop sobbing and is quiet now. He then wipes his own face of tears and let’s go of Red, who quickly retracts back. Red leans against the wall staring out of the doorway into the hall with Papyrus staying in his blanket burrito. They sit there for a while together as cold air surrounds them both.

"Do you think that my brother could have followed me like yours did?” Papyrus askes Red with a dry voice. Red raises a bone brow and rolls his eye lights.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Papyrus looked hopeful, but Red isn’t sure. Two ghosts in the apartment? That might not end well. Who knows, he might have. Tail flicks behind Red as he thinks.

              “Your brother might know.” Papyrus comments. Red scoffs, tail flicks turn to shakes.

“He does his own damn thing and haunts my dreams sometimes. I won’t go into trusting him too much.” The cold spot lingers, then dissipates. Papyrus stays in his burrito for a while longer. Red has to get up, the pressure on his tail is killing him.

              “Come on. Let’s go the kitchen and get something to drink.” Red hesitantly offers his hand to Papyrus, who takes it and lifts up onto his feet. Hollow skeleton leaves his blanket behind in his room and slowly follows his crimson roommate out into the kitchen to grab two plastic cups out of the cupboard.

              “So what brought this on?” Red asks Papyrus as he sits down at the table. Papyrus looks away and starts crying again. Red rolls his eyes and is getting rather annoyed. It takes a moment, but Papyrus gathers his thoughts.

“I overheard people talking about their families and I…. I.” Papyrus chokes up. Red shakes his head, pausing his roommate. “I get it. You started thinking about what if.” Stocky skeleton comments. Papyrus nods his head, wiping tears from his face. Finally, Red turns on the faucet and holds a cup under the flowing water, walks over to hand Papyrus the first cup and then preps his owe.

              Papyrus sits somberly in his chair, staring at his cup of water. Red observers him from the sink trying to decide a course of action. He’s going to try being nice.

“Tell me about your father. I’ll talk about mine.” Red offers Papyrus a chance to talk, along with a smile. Most of the time it makes Red feel horrible, but it makes Papyrus stop crying.

              Papyrus looks up to Red, eager eyes slowly blinks then this skeleton nods. A soft smile takes over his teeth.

“My father was a fun man.” Papyrus begins. “He was a large fellow, had a horrible hunch from his spine issues and always had a smile on his face. I think it was permanent.” Papyrus pauses for a moment to wipe tears from his face. “He was also very smart and told too many jokes. I think that’s where Sans got it from. Some nights he would get home very late, covered in whatever they did at the lab that day, but he always made time to read to us at night. One day he didn’t return home. Sans and I were of school age. Sans was a teen, just barely old enough to be a young adult. Then, when our father died, Sans was forced to become the one in charge. He spent many a late night working, providing for us. He became good at electronics and could fix anything… and... made… ” Papyrus covers his face. He makes the notion that he is done talking. No more. He can’t handle talking about his family anymore.

              Red gives a sigh and sips from his cup. A malicious smile grows on his face from the memories. “You know. I didn’t really get to know my real father. He wasn’t the most loving parent. But he was very smart.” Red chuckles darkly, takes another sip then resumes. “But after a few years of bad things that happened, we started living with my Grillby. He wasn’t always the best, but he was our daddy and earned that right over time. He was even similar to this Grillby; owned a bar, had to deal with me and my bro.” Red chuckles. Papyrus keeps his hands in his face. “Yeah I know it sucks but it’s what you make of it. I lost everything, you still have your home and friends.” Red finishes and Papyrus looks up at him. Home, what a funny word.

               “But I would kill to have my bro back. I know how you feel about losing family.” Red makes his final comment, then sips from his cup. Papyrus’ phone buzzes in his pocket. He forgot that he had it on him, then checks the screen; it’s Undyne. Red scoffs and walks out of the room, then heads to his own. He can hear Papyrus talking, but doesn’t care enough to listen in. This skeleton’s room is a warzone yet again. It looks a laundry bomb went off in here. Red places his cup on his night stand and collects the stray clothing from around the room.

              After a moment, our crimson skeleton finds his yellow striped shorts with the hole in the butt and sniffs them, almost gagging. That was a mistake. They could stand on their own. Into the basket. He really has to stop going out into the rain as the shorts are crusted with dirt and grim. Red continues to dig around in his room until he finds his floor again. Hardwood and cold as ever.

              Red can hear Papyrus hang up his phone as he walks down the hall. Taking another few moments, Red looks behind himself to find that Papyrus is standing in his doorway with a new change of clothes on. Red lifts a bonebrow at his now excited roommate.

“What’s up?” Red asks. Papyrus returns a massive smile and stands tall.

              “I’m going out for a run with Undyne. I haven’t done that since… since.” Papyrus gets somber, then quickly perks back up. “In forever. I’ll be back in a bit. Later.” Eager skeleton says his farewell as he bounces down the hall. Red doesn’t even have time to say goodbye and once Papyrus is gone, he growls rather deeply. Undyne, that cunt. Why does she think that he his abusing Papyrus? During the time these two have been spending together, it’s been getting worst. Where did this aggression come from? These skeletons haven’t even had their first fight yet. Red scowls and gets back to picking up his room. He doesn’t care. Undyne really isn’t effecting his life all too much, although he can see that it is hurting Papyrus. Oh well.

What do with the rest of the day? Red doesn’t really want to go out. Maybe check to see if they need anything from the store. Continue to be productive? Yeah. Why not. Wait, that’s going out. Oh well, there is nothing better to do. After this skeleton finishes cleaning his room, he scribbles in a note book after checking around the kitchen and then heads out.

              The evening draws to a close and both of the Skeletons are home. Papyrus talks fondly about his outing with Undyne over dinner and Red barely listens as he pokes his food. Papyrus, of course notices this and inquirers about it.

              “Red, what is your issue with Undyne?” Papyrus asks, getting straight to the point. Red becomes defensive and snaps his attention up at his roommate.

“What do you mean ‘what’s my issue?’ Dude, what’s her issue with me!? You heard the horrible shit they say about us. They stay I’m abusive to you even though I allowed you to spend two nights in a row with me and that the other week at the park was just a display of power.” Red balls his fists and his eye lights drop, tail flicks from behind. “I can show them a display of power if they truly want one.” A low growl through the fell’s teeth. Just his crimson eye light returns, burning brighter than before. Papyrus starts to become sorry that he brought the subject up by leaning back in his seat, trying to become a smaller target. Blinking a few times, Red inhales through his nose and forces himself to relax. The power eye dims and the other eye light pops back up. “I’m good. I’m good.” Red tries to reassure Papyrus, but he just stays leaned back in his seat.

              “It’s just every time that we are around each other, she tenses badly and clams up. It’s annoying!” Squeaking out a comment, Red is trying to stay calm but the sweat is staring to bead down his skull.

Stilling across the table, Papyrus tries to think of something to ease the tension between the two, making a face of deep thought. Red glances up and spots the face, tail starting to shake and he’s about to plead for his roommate to stop but Papyrus snaps his fingers together. Red starts shaking his head no but Papyrus becomes bolder and then starts to nod his head yes.

“Nyeh heh! Oh yes, Red! I have an idea! One morning, sometime this week, you and Undyne should get together and try to figure out what is wrong. Bury the hatchet if you will. I’ll call her tomorrow and see what we can do!” Papyrus courageously states. A large grimace grows on Red’s face and he looks down, growling.

              “Oh Red, don’t be like that.” Still trying to stay positive, Papyrus smiles at his friend and taps his fingers on the table top. “I know that you two can be the best of friends and can work together to settle your differences. Plus, I’ll be there the entire time!” Papyrus’ enthusiasm is usually infectious, but Red seems to be immune right now, scowl still locked on his perma-grin. Papyrus gets up from the table to pick up his plate.

“Come on now. Let’s clean up and enjoy the rest of the evening together. Maybe there is something interesting on TV tonight.” After walking his plate to the sink, Papyrus returns to poke Red out of his chair and grabs the large pot of leftover food. Red chatters in return and tries to shuffle away after starting the dishwasher, but it seems like Papyrus has other plans. Tall skeleton then drags his shorter roommate over to the couch so they can enjoy the rest of their evening together while watching mindless TV.

              Nothing really seems to be on tonight and it’s getting late. Red has already nodded off several times on the couch. Each time, Papyrus pokes him awake with the same set of comments. “Go to your room sleepy bones. Your bed has to be more comfortable than this couch.” Another pokes to Red’s shoulder from Papyrus. His couch mate tries to shake the tiredness away. It only succeeds by making him dizzy and keeps him awake for just a few moments longer. Tired sockets are given a good rub and Red feels up his face to find a slight impression traveling up his forehead, small mounds of bone on his skull popping up. Eye sockets widen and Red holds his hand in place for the time being, pretending to scratch a major itch. With high hopes that Papyrus didn’t notice, Red glances over to his couch mate smiling right at him. Fuck.

“Oh, so that isn’t light catching your face. I’ve seen it a few times in the mornings, what’s it from?” Papyrus inquires. Red starts to sweat and shake his skull, going as far as getting up from the couch.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Stocky skeleton quickly denies, not in any mood to talk about his past. How he even explain it? Once Red feels that the impression has gone away, he removes his hand and starts to make his way around the couch to escape. Papyrus’ smile grows even more.

“Come on Red. You can tell me anything.” One attempt at reassuring his roommate later, Red keeps denying Papyrus and moves faster down the hall, leaving the tall skeleton all alone.

“Well, I see that this bothers you and I won’t press into it any longer. Good night Red!” Chipper but tired, Papyrus calls down the hall to his roommate who is about to hide into his room. Red calls out a simple farewell and closes his door. Crises averted. How would this stocky skeleton even explain this anyway? Poor Red plops on to his bed with a springy thud and lays on his front. He forgot to turn off the light again and a tail wiggles on top of his legs. Great. Suddenly the light goes off and Red says a muffled thank you to his brother as he allows sleep to finally overtake him.

              The next morning, Red wakes to the sound of Papyrus talking to Undyne on his phone rather loudly. It sounds neutral but whatever it is, Red can hear his name quite a few times. Must be that breakfast idea that Pap has. Something about working out issues. Whatever Undyne is doing, it’s not healthy and it sure as hell isn’t fair to Papyrus. It seems like this tall skeleton wants both monsters to stay in his life, so they both need to learn to get along. Oh, the conversation is over, finally Red can move again. He rolls out of bed onto his feet, dizzy from the sudden movement, but manages to hobble over to his mirror in time. There is a much larger and deeper opening on his face, along with horns and teeth. Red even looks down at his hands to find longer claws and barbs on the sides of his arms, even going as far as turning to look back at his tail, finding the same fate; barbs. A deep scowl grows on Red’s forced smiling face as he watches the bone smooth out, just in time as a knock sounds on his bedroom door. Red leaves his room to find an excited Papyrus standing there in the hall.

              “I did it Red! She agreed. Tomorrow morning, we will all have breakfast together and we will try to figure out what is wrong. The Great Papyrus always prevails.” Totally didn’t expect Red up yet but just as excited all the same, Papyrus vibrates outside of his roommate’s door it a very large smile on his face, very proud of himself. As he should. Well, this tall skeleton has to depart. It’s time for him to head off to work as he has second shift again. With that note, he leaves Red alone in the apartment causing this crimson skeleton live life today with a permeant scowl on his face. The day rolls around and the skeletons find themselves back at the apartment. Papyrus is as chipper than ever, Red has a dark cloud around him.

The evening is dull and full of ‘meh’s’ from Red. He’s not very happy about tomorrow but promises that he will try to get along. For the sake of Papyrus and also to prove that Red isn’t the issue. He’s tried to show nothing but affection for Papyrus, though it is in his own way.

The next morning comes bright and early for Red has to get ready for his shift at Grillby’s. Eye sockets awake and open well before his alarm, Red is truly dreading breakfast. Somehow, Papyrus managed to get Undyne to sit down with them and they will try to get her to settle her differences with Red, which even this crimson skeleton is impressed over.

After forcing himself out of bed, Red heads to the bathroom to take a quick shower and to brush his teeth. There’s a loud knock on the door from down the hall and a rather excited set of feet rush over to greet the guest. Sounds like Papyrus is happily talking to somebody. It must be Undyne as she is right on time. So far so good. Red sighs, pokes his head down the tall to spot the duo and heads to his room to finish getting dressed. He can even hear them talking from the back of the apartment, loud voices and laughs. It’s a good start and it even starts to break that scowl that sits on Red’s face.

For Papyrus.

Digging through his closet, Red finds a matching pants and jacket combo. Bright colors today, it will relax the mood in the apartment. Then plucking his phone and wallet that rests on his dresser, Red looks at himself in the mirror that rests on top and focuses. Sweat drips down his skull, dark bags rest under his sockets. This dude is a mess. Usually Red would just beat the shit out of the person that he has issues with but that’s not how things work here in the over-world. He looks at himself in his mirror and watches wisps of crimson steam come from the openings in his face. A moment later, Red closes his sockets and inhales deeply, then slowly releases. Red can feel the tension leave his bones as he relaxes his face to neutral and opens his sockets. Both glowing eye lights are now white. Good. Progress. Red nods at himself and snorts. If he can keep it off, then she won’t be intimidated. Maybe they can work out their issues after all

That is until Red can hear yelling from the kitchen.

Stocky skeleton pokes his head out of his bedroom door and views down the hall, watching arms and bodies move. Wisps of magic trail around the arguing monsters and it looks like it’s getting heated. Red starts to make his way down the hall listening in.

              “He would never say something like that! Where are you getting that from?” Papyrus croaks, arguing with Undyne. He is standing tall, trying to sound strong as possible but his voice cracks time to time.

“I told you, I heard it from the woman that he works with. She said that he said it herself!” Undyne responds back, fins on her head fully open but tilted back. Papyrus has to take a moment and looks to the side, then glances up at Undyne.

“I don’t believe you!” The tall skeleton shrieks. Red stalks in closer, concern growing by the second.

“He would never say those kinda of things about me. I know we have our differences, but he would come to me.” Papyrus responds again, pointing at himself with open hands. Soft finger tips at his chest.

Undyne is struggling to keep calm, trying to keep the harshness out of her voice. It’s like she is trying to warn Papyrus about something. Ear fins flick open and closed, wiggling around. “I told you what he said. Red calls you a weak coward behind your back. That you need somebody to take care of you, that you are too stupid to live on your own. You disguise that in the form of false sorrow over the death of your brother.” Undyne repeats what she said earlier, words finally starting to hit.

              That gets a rather deep growl from Red, tail thrashing behind him. It also catches the attention of the two monsters in the kitchen. Forget trying to relax and turn off the power eye. Now it’s back an in full effect, burning brighter than ever. The pupil is a slit. Red doesn’t even want to know what Undyne is talking about, only that it’s clearly upsetting Papyrus and it has to stop, **_NOW_**.

              Moving past Papyrus and right into Undyne’s face, it takes every ounce of Red’s wellbeing to not permanently dent her face in. Both stare at each other for an intense burning moment, Red more aggressive than either have seen. Even for a moment, Undyne starts to back off, eye rising high realizing how much of a bad idea that this was.

              “What the fucks ya talkin ‘bout fish bitch?” Red forces himself into the argument. Papyrus is in tears, whole face is orange with fat tears rolling down his cheeks. Red looks back to check on Papyrus and spots his roommate not able to look at him with his hands covering his face. That makes Red even more angry, embers and steam rises up out of the skeleton.

“The fact that you insult Papyrus when you are at work. Don’t think I don’t know. I have ears everywhere.” Undyne points at Red right at his chest, flexing her ear fins for emphasis. She has her hand in his face. Red looks down at her hand, standing straight, almost at eye level with the fish monster. The skeleton’s perma-grin twists his face an evil scowl and soft bone above his teeth lift into a snarl.

“If I was yousssss, I would take ya hand out of my facccce.” Red warns Undyne showing off teeth, blowing steam out his mouth. “I don’tsss know what is goin on ‘ere, but it needsss ta stop.” This skeleton calmly addresses his now unwanted guest.

              The hissing is new, or at least to Papyrus, who runs down the hall to his room and closes the door behind him with a click. Both monsters glance back.

“Papyrus wait!” Undyne starts to go down the hall after him, clawed hands reaching out. Red on the other hand, grabs the back of Undyne’ jacket with his own claws, holding her in place with a killer grip. Even going as far as digging into the soft pleather.

“Get out of my apartment.” Red, somehow still, calmly says to the monster in his grasp. Eye lights are gone, tail flicks from behind. Dark aura around this heavy skeleton.

 “I need to make sure Papyrus is okay and you need to let go of me.” Undyne returns, hands crackling with cyan magic. Red holds tight, his own magic crackling in return.

“I said; _GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT. **GET OUT NOW!**_ ” Deepest growl Red has managed yet, he manhandles and drags Undyne to the front door and for a moment, the fish monster feels fear. If Red wanted to, he could easily hurt her and she knows it. With a hearty bark, Red throws Undyne out his front door and slams it in her face, then stomps back into the apartment.

 Once Red has a chance to breathe again, he quietly steps down his tiny hall and listens into Papyrus’ room. Sobbing can be heard from behind the door. A clawed fist comes up to knock on a door but Red decides against it. He gets a whiff of food and darts down to the kitchen afraid something is burning.

              Once arriving in the kitchen, Red spots nothing on the stove and exhales. The table is set for three. Papyrus made waffles with fried apples since he was really looking forward to this. Red sighs, then sits his spot at the table and rests his head on his hands. Belly gurgles at the sound of the food as Red really wants to eat, but he also wants to wait for Papyrus.

              Where is all this coming from? It’s so confusing to poor Red. His hands shake and he tries to rub them together to get them to spot. He could have ended Undyne right there, all it would have taken is a quick swipe. This crimson skeleton sits lost in thought. All of this is stressing him out to the point where he doesn’t even hear Papyrus come out of his room, much less walk down the hall. By then, all the food is cold.

              Papyrus slowly travels down the hall to return to the kitchen. His face is still tinted orange and his shirt is covered in wet spots. It takes him a moment but he spots Red at the table, hunched over with his head in his hands.

              “Red, you wouldn’t say those kind of hurtful things about me, right?” It’s soft but Papyrus pleads with his roommate. Red eagerly turns his skull to look back at his roommate, expression lightens up.

“No, never. I understand personally how badly your brother’s death affected you and I would never say anything like that. If I had and issues with you, I would come to you personally, you know this. Never this message by proxy shit.” Red reassures Papyrus. “Besides, if I wanted to say anything, I would tell you that this constant crying and emotional shit is getting annoying really fast. I get it, your brother died and life sucks. Get over it. It’s been three months.” Well that comment alone just removed about any attempt at trying to repair any emotional damage from before. Red looks bored and doesn’t want to talk about this anymore. “Come on, let’s eat.”

              Papyrus sniffs, wiping away the rest of his tears off of his face. He stands tall, giving Red a harsh look, then narrows his sockets at his roommate. Red lifts a bonebrow in return, tail behind him flicks to the side.

“What? Don’t give me that look. Emotion is a weakness that can be manipulated so easily, and once you threw love in the mix, it gets even easier.” Red explains, face still looking void of emotion. Papyrus jaw quivers as his teeth click.

“Really? That’s it? The empathy that you been showing me is false, isn’t it?” Papyrus askes with harsh tones. That really sung. Red doesn’t comment and can only look away. This is getting awkward and this crimson skeleton decides it’s just best to leave.

“Maybe I should just go.” Almost making it out of the door, Papyrus moves with a flash and forces it closed on Red. Staring match is now back on.

“I don’t think so. You are going to answer my question, now! Have you been lying to me?!” By now there is a rare shift in emotion. Papyrus, for once, has an angry orange glow to his eyes and gives Red a harsh look. “What aren’t you telling me Red? And don’t you dare lie to me.” Just like his own brother, it seems that lying to this Papyrus is a very bad idea as well. Red stares back, tail shaking from behind.

              “WHAT ARENT YOU TELLING ME RED!?” Suddenly, Papyrus shouts. This is really making them both angry. “Are you withholding information from when I was attacked too!? Maybe Undyne was right, you paid that kid off to attack me. You can’t stand seeing me with her and that’s a way of you controlling me! You fed me magic so I could be more like you!” Papyrus starts to accuse Red of the attack and things he didn’t do. Finally Red snaps out of his shock and his eye lights drop out, snarl returning.

              “Don’t. You. Dare. Accuse. Me. Of. That.” Red slowly recites. The anger in this skull is building once again. In his mind, he wants to punch Papyrus. He wants to break his face in so bad and instead makes his own nasty comments because that clearly fixes issues.

“If ya fuckin brotha made ya grow up when he had da chance, then maybe yous would unda stands that not evera thing is fuckin rainbows and sunshine. I didn’ pay off dat fuckin kid, and I don’ want ta fucking control ya!” Red growls through his sharp teeth, crimson eye returning to it’s socket. “If I was ya, I would watch whats ya say ta somebody dat save’d ya.If it weren’t fer me, yous would be DEAD!” Red angrily shouts in a very harsh voice, steam starting to return to his breath. None of this display of anger fazes Papyrus, not one bit.

              “Oh classic Sans. You always try to revalidate your actions by mentioning any previous accomplishments! You know what, I’m sick of that!” Papyrus yells at Red, hand pounding on the door. Red steps back as the aura around him darkens.

“Are ya yelling at me like I’m your brotha? Newsflash dipshit, I look like him. We aren’t fucking related!” Angry claws point to a cracked and scarred face. Red then hunches down into an aggressive stance and balls his fists.

“Maybe I should have let dat kid kill you! At least you would be finally reunited with your dead brotha!” Red shouts with his arms in the air, ready to pounce at any time. Papyrus, on the other hand, steps back like he has been hit, tears forming at his sockets once again.

 “HOW DARE YOU BRING MY BROTHER INTO THIS!” He shouts back. “How could you say something like… wait, WHAT?” Papyrus pauses mid-sentence, just realizing what Red said. Jaw opened wide, a look of pure shock takes over his face. Papyrus leans in and growls. “You told me that a much larger monster killed him and that you had to be careful when you came to pick me up off the street.” It’s above a whisper, but Papyrus gives Red a look that could kill and it seems like Red has been caught in a lie. Sweat beads at his skull and Papyrus squints harder. “You killed him, didn’t you?” Papyrus asks in a calm voice with a suspicious glance. Red tries to back pedal.

“No, it was that monster.” Trying to hold true to the lie, Red quickly returns. Papyrus isn’t buying it.

“Yeah.” Returning an angry snarl, Papyrus growls and steps forward to Red. He gives an angry chuckle. “And from what I remember, it sniffed me and had the same scars that you had, gold tooth, cracked face, and crimson eyes.”

“I-it wasn’t me! I-i-i-I swear!” Red goes to defend himself, voice cracking. He’s been caught and is now afraid of what to tell Papyrus.

“What are you hiding from me again Red?” Papyrus askes putting his hands on his hips. It’s clearly not working.

“Nothing. I told you what happened that night!” Red replies.

“Don’t you dare lie to me again!” Papyrus stomps. He is getting sick of going around and around.

“Fuck you. I told you the truth!” Red yells again. His arms twitches and is trying really hard to keep it together and not hit Papyrus.

“You are so cruel Red! You don’t have to hide anything from me. You told me so yourself. I’m your buddy.” Papyrus begins, trying to end this conflict on a lighter note.

“Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!” Grabbing the sides of his skull, Red screams. This fell can’t hold it in anymore and punches the front door, hitting hard enough that he leaves a massive dent in the metal. The kind of dent that should have broken his hand but inside, embers and fire blows out of Red’s teeth as he tries to stabilize his breathing. Papyrus jumps back trying to catch himself but instead ends up taking the coats off rack that’s next to the door with him and tumbles on the floor.

Red doesn’t even flinch, he doesn’t make a noise. His face flushes with a deep crimson as he breaths steam. He hasn’t been this angry since the day his brother died and right now, Red is heavily considering stomping on Papyrus, who is cowering on the floor terrified that Red is going to hurt him.

This fell, who is still very angry, opens the dented door and departs from his apartment, leaving Papyrus all alone. Red walks out into the hall to find that a small group of other tenets that have gathered in the hall, doors opened and they are all looking right at him. He glances at them with his one crimson orb and snarls.

“What the fuck do you want?” They back off at his comment and Red turns to examine his door. The paint chipped from where he punched it on the other side, clear fist dent in the door. He wants to teleport away more than anything in world, but his magic is too unstable right now. So Red walks forward into the crowd and they spilt in two, allowing this skeleton to pass.

The phone in Red’s pocket buzzes as this livid skeleton makes his way out of the building. It’s most likely from his landlord and he ignores it. Stocky skeleton doesn’t have the energy to deal with this right now and his current mood is going to make work difficult.

If Papyrus wants cruel, Red will give him cruel. He’ll give him the cruelest monster he’s ever met. Another growl bubbles out of this crimson skeleton’s ribs as he stomps down the outside sidewalk in one hell of a sour mood. He has a bone to pick with anybody and you better stay out of his way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT BEGINS! BWHAHAH! *cough*  
> You better stay out of Red's warpath if you know what is good for you.  
> And I wonder what Red is talking about......


	13. Explosive Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A secret is reviled and a choice is made.
> 
> Slight alcohol abuse and more fighting. Sorry in advance.

              After their first fight, or more like one sided yelling, the skele-bros haven’t interacted with each other in a few days. Red has purposefully ignored Papyrus out of spite, and poor Papyrus is stuck at how to continue. He can hear Red come home at night, but other than that he wouldn’t know that he existed. Occasionally food would go missing from the fridge or the bathroom would be steamed up in the mornings, but Red avoided Papyrus like the plague, and the few times when Papyrus did have the misfortune of running into Red, he would give him the scariest smile that he has even seen causing Papyrus to duck back into his room. One could say that he was almost grateful that roommate worked much longer hours than him and that he shook him down to his very core.

              The week finally worked itself around to when Red had his day off and Papyrus had morning shift at the café. Papyrus worked silently throughout the day, determined to make it without issue. He knew that he needed to talk to Red. Try to get this interaction to stop. He hasn’t going to go to Undyne about any of this, for fear of making it worse than it already is. This skeleton is an adult and does not need her protection, nor anybody’s. Red won’t hurt him, or so he hopes.

              The walk to work for Papyrus was dull. The sky is grey and it looks like it’s going to rain. He just hopes that he makes it home before then. The tall skeleton makes it to the café without a moment’s notice and walks in. He is greeted by his other staff members and punches in for the morning, getting right to work with his daily tasks.

Papyrus spends all day thinking about what he is going to say to Red. Often droning off, forgetting what tasks need to be finished before the end of his shift. He wants to apologize to Red. He wants to say that he is sorry for all those hurtful things. For accusing Red of committing crimes that he didn’t do. Maybe Red was just tense about Undyne being there. Most of the time, he seemed like somebody that was friendly enough to talk too, even as going as far as to spend the night with him a few times. Maybe Papyrus can try to get him to start opening back up again, but that doesn’t explain his actions now.

              Before our tall skeleton realizes it, his shift is over and his replacement is waiting to take his position. He looks to find one of his coworkers, Clair, trying to get his attention. She is a young human that has single handily made friends with all the monsters in the café. She looks at Papyrus with a worried expression and frowns.

              “Papyrus, what has you so down this week? You usually have a bright smile to share.” Clair comments on Papyrus’ mood for the past week. He really hasn’t been his usual self. Papyrus sighs. Clair walks over to him. She is tiny compared to him, having to stand on her toes to give him a proper hug. Papyrus of course accepts the hug with pleasure and Clair lets go, glad to see that Papyrus is feeling a little better.

“Red and I had a fight.” Papyrus decides to give her the short version. Clair gasps. She knows all about the rumors and she hasn’t met Red yet, but she knows what he looks like. “Every time we have some form of contact, he is hostile and mean. And very scary. I’m going to try to talk to him about this today since he isn’t at work.” Papyrus explains. He just hopes that Red is cordial for this little planned interaction.

“I wish you the best of luck. If it gets bad, come back here, okay?” Clair rubs his arm. She seems to be trying to cheer Papyrus up. He stands straight and nods his head. Clair smiles at him.

              “I’ll try. There is so much I have to apologize for.” Papyrus hangs his head in sorrow. Even after a week, he still feels bad. Clair hugs him again, rubbing his back. There is a loud clatter in the back kitchen that draws the attention of both. Clair lets go and laughs.

“Go now Papyrus. Run while you have the chance or Muffet will make you help clean up whatever that noise was.” With a soft smile, Papyrus nods and heads to the employee room to punch out. He grabs his jacket and puts it on before walking about side, giving a wave to all in the shop. It’s still grey and chilly this morning with strong winds threatening to blow you away.

              It’s a short trek from Prince over to King Street and the rain opens up on Papyrus. He has to duck under awnings to avoid the rain. With a grimace, be decides to just walk on in the cold rain home. He is already half soaked and any warmth from being inside the parlor is gone.

              As Papyrus makes it inside, the pungent smell of alcohol and mustard assaults his nose in the apartment. For a moment, Papyrus gags. He was hoping that his roommate didn’t eat condiments but this one likes mustard. Having to hold his nose in his hands, Papyrus holds his looks around to find Red.

It’s dark in the apartment and there is a soft crimson glow from the couch. It’s coming from Red, who seems laying on the shirtless couch staring up at the ceiling. Red seems to have a blank look on his face with his hands on his chest, with only shorts on. What Papyrus assumes are beer bottles, they littler the surface of the coffee table. The duo kept alcohol in the apartment but he has never seen Red drink this much in one sitting. Having half a mind to chew out his roommate, Papyrus looks at the kitchen clock and it reads 12:02pm. The storm surges outside. Instead, he is going to try to fix his relationship with his hopefully not drunk roommate.

              “Red.” Papyrus hesitantly sticks his head over the couch to look at down at the larger skeleton. Red slowly turns his head over to Papyrus and chuckles, blinking slowly and there seems to be a bit of drool on his face. Forget drunk, Red seems to be shitfaced.

“Heya Pap, ya look wet.” Red slurs with a smile. Oh great, its only noon and his roommate is totally shitfaced. Papyrus is aware that Red gets a little giddy and open when he drinks, so maybe he can get him to talk. Smiling up from the couch, Red tries to keep his sockets open and blinks at Papyrus. Teeth and chubby cheeks are stained yellow from the mustard. Drinking this early in the day isn’t a good habit to start, Red. Papyrus frowns down at this drunk skeleton, ignoring his own issue and taps a foot.

              “Are you okay? You seem drunk.” Papyrus has seen Red drunk before, but never this drunk and it puts him on edge. Red slowly shakes his head.

“Nope. I’m fine.” Slurring and quite clearly lying, Red can’t keep eye contact with his roommate and exhales through his nose with a laughs. “Water the matter with you? You look all soggy. I hope you aren’t drenched down to the bone. Heh hehhehe.” After the chuckle, Red involuntarily flinches, expecting to get hit. Papyrus sighs and looks down. Really? Including puns? This seems familiar. The taller skeleton rolls his sockets turns to walk away and can hear sniffling. Wait. Is Red crying?

              Papyrus turns back to find Red with his hands on his face, light red magic streaking down his cheeks. His perma smile seemed twisted and he growls. There is that crack again, it runs down from middle of Red’ teeth on his bottom jaw, horns pop up on the sides of Red’s face. Papyrus makes a mental note to ask about that again as he thoughts from a week ago become stronger. It sounds like Red is mumbling something. Crimson magic buzzes around his fingertips causing Papyrus to back up, bones rattling in fear. It’s slow, but Red seems to calm down. Now is Papyrus’ chance, but the words are stuck.

              “I’m sorry!” Papyrus chatters through his teeth, taking a longer moment than he wanted. There, it’s been said. Red removes his hands from his face and stares hard at him, asking him a dull ‘what’, almost like he didn’t hear him clearly. Papyrus inhales and apologizes again. He has to look away from Red’ stare as it burns a hole in his soul and the split on Red’s face jumps up to the top of his nose. Finally glancing back, Papyrus gets a good look at Red’ face. It looks tired and haggard. Like he hasn’t slept very well.

              “I’m sorry that I sided with Undyne. She was wrong to accuse you of those things.” There. A full apology, but it will only work if Red accepts it, who grinds his sharp teeth. It seems he isn’t going to as a dark chuckle bubbles out of ribs.

“It’s not your fault. You idolize her, so it was only natural. It’s not like you’ve lived with me for the past three months. So getting to know me was….” BOOM. There is a loud crack of thunder outside, interrupting Red. He just rolls his eyes and sits up off the couch, back to Papyrus. Lightly sways back and forth on the cushion, tail trapped under legs. 

              Papyrus doesn’t know how to react besides asking if his roommate is okay, chattering through is teeth. It causes Red to chuckle more.

“As fine as I’ll ever be.” Crimson skeleton looks back over his shoulder, grinning harshly. “It’s not like this is happened to me before.” Red slurs and slowly stands to face Papyrus. Clawed hand scratches scarred chest. Papyrus looks down and backs up. His roommate smiles wider. “Aw, what’s the matter Papyrus? You aren’t afraid of me are you?” Red mocks, then stumbles around to the other side of the couch where Papyrus is standing, tail drooped low.

              Papyrus isn’t quite shaking, but it isn’t quite bone rattling either. Red gets closer and Papyrus wants to wrench. He smells awful. The alcohol and mustard is way too over powering. The taller skeleton wants to get away, but in some cryptic sense, he needs to prove that he isn’t afraid of his roommate and stands his ground. Red stares him down, in a very aggressive stance, smile getting wider and lifts his arms to embrace the shaking Papyrus. Well this is different, Papyrus is almost confused, but gingerly takes the hug. This was also for Red not to fall over, as he started teetering on his toes. There is another blast of thunder outside and it causes the dim lights in the apartment to flicker. Papyrus also jumps hard at the rumble in the air, but his drunk roommate still holds him, patting his back.

              After a pregnant moment, Red let’s go and stumbles off down the hall. Papyrus stands confused in the living room. Was that him accepting his apology? It wasn’t verbal and that’s unusual for him. Papyrus turns to go into the kitchen and Red stops halfway down the tiny hall.

 “Oh!” Red then turns around after his drunken slur. Oh no. Using the wall as support, Red returns to Papyrus with his tail curled up. “I’ve also been thinking about this. It’s Undyne.  She is doing this to us.” Stocky skeleton gives this taller skeleton a stern look and gains a firm grip on his arm. He teeters on his toes and clearly has had too much to drink to even talk about these kinds of things. Papyrus sighs. This again. The taller skeleton rolls his eyes and looks away.

“I can’t believe you still think she is trying to do this. What would she gain?” Papyrus defends Undyne. Red blinks a few times to process the words and then scowls.

“She is trying to tear us apart. Think about this! She wasn’t like this until after you moved in.” Drunk logic, but logic none the less. Red tries to explain his reasoning’s. He also started drinking to slow down his mind and it’s helped a lot.

              Trying to pull his arm out of the iron grip, Papyrus wants to depart but Red still clings to him. His drunk roommate must have lost his mind. Why would Undyne do that? This is going nowhere. Papyrus finally gets mad and pries Red’s grip off his arm.

“Go back to the couch or your room. You don’t know her.” This smell was getting to be too much for Papyrus. “And go shower! You smell awful.”

              Red wobbles on his legs and growls. “I don’t know her? I know what she is capable of.” He tries to steady himself on the couch after Papyrus takes a step back so he can’t cling again. This is going to be a long day. So much for wanting to defuse the situation in the house. Why does Red think she is the bad guy? She only wants to look out for Papyrus. Maybe it’s the rumor. It’s effecting him so badly that he has to pit it on to somebody. That has to be it.

              “You know what _your_ Undyne was capable of! _Mine_ isn’t this mean person that you say she is.” Papyrus returns arguing. Red scoffs loudly with spit.

“Please. She is just like all the other Undyne’s. Let me guess.” Drunk skeleton has to pause for a hiccup and wipes his face with a stained yellow set of claws. “You never made it into the guard because she tried to protect you. Only to turn that into a false guise of cooking lessons. Boyo, isn’t that just cruel.” Papyrus sockets widen. How does Red know that? He never told him, ever!

              “Gee, that sounds awfully like somebody trying to get over on you. She is just like all the other Undyne’s I had the miss fortune of meeting.” Red continues in a mocking tone. Papyrus balls his fists in anger. He doesn’t know _his_ Undyne. She isn’t like that! In a fit of anger, Papyrus finally attacks first, pushing Red down. His roommate falls over flat on his back with a thud, weight shifting on the ground. It takes Red a few moments to process as he lays there in shock and takes a moment to get back up as Papyrus starts to freak out. This skeleton stops himself and stands strong. Own up to what you did, prove to Red that you aren’t a coward and a weakling, but it only gets a dark chuckle out of Red.

“If you start something, you better be willing to finish it. But I’ll forgive that for now.” It takes just as long as the processed thought, but Red picks himself up off the floor and twitches. Papyrus can see the seething anger build in his roommates face as another crack of the thunder sounds and the power flickers. The storm rages on outside.

              “Give up Papyrus. It’s her. She is trying to tear us apart. I guess she never really got over the first day we all met. Toriel hinted at it to me last time I spoke to her.” Red refers back to when Papyrus accidently punched him in the face. Papyrus wells up with tears. This little event happened the day after his brother died.

“And I told you I was sorry about that!” Tall skeleton’s voice cracks. Red waves it off. That was a good hit, even drunk Red is impressed. Papyrus thinks quickly about this and the argument is going nowhere. His roommate is really adamant over this. Is he paranoid that Undyne is out to get him?

“I don’t understand why you think this Red. She is really nice!” Papyrus can barely hold the emotion back. It’s compounding again and he fights back tears. This other worldly skeleton is so similar to his brother that it hurts.

              The demented brother twitches. He squeezes the back of the couch and the wooden support underneath cracks. It takes him a moment but he has to pry his clawed fingers out of the leather. Crimson magic swirls around him and he holds in anger. Papyrus goes to speak again.

“I’m sorry Red. There is nothing going on with her. I’ve talked about this with her many times and she doesn’t know where it’s coming from either.” The tall skeleton pauses. He has a feeling this is going to push his roommate over the edge. “This is more than likely some imagery scenario that you have created in your head and its imprinting on your wellbeing.” There is another boom of thunder outside and the power dies in the apartment, along with a sick snap of wood. Red just broke the back of the couch with his hands! He shakes so hard his bones rattle.

              “You. Think. I’m. Making. This. Up.” The now livid skeleton talks through gritted teeth in the dark. He speaks in a dark tone and only a blazing crimson eye burns in his skull. His gel body gives off a glow and he has to, he _needs to_ , get away. Papyrus manages to stay strong.

              Red turns to angrily stagger away, lighting up the hall with his magic and Papyrus notices something wrong with his spine and tail in the dark. Maybe it’s the shadows, which he now figured that that’s been happing a lot with his roommate, and he swears that his vertebra are popping out of his gel and further down his tail. That looks painful and that confirms that there is something wrong with his roommate. Something he isn’t telling him. Papyrus figures that after this all finally goes away he has to ask about it, or he hopes that he doesn’t learn the hard away. He tried before and Red denied everything. His roommate finally staggers down the hall and makes it to his room, slamming his door shut, leaving Papyrus alone in the dark.

              It’s unusually dark in the apartment. It’s usually brighter than this even with the lights off. The dancing lighting outside cracks shadows around the living room from the kitchen window and from the view in the hall. The shadows are starting to scare Papyrus and he briskly walks down to his room to close himself inside, then sits on his bed and thinks.

After a while a phone buzzes in this skeletons pocket bringing him back to reality. It’s Clair. It reads: _Hello! Just checking in on you._ Papyrus smiles through more tears and looks up to his mirror and almost jumps out of his clothes. It’s his roommate’s brother! The other Papyrus! And he doesn’t look happy. The living brother can almost hear the reflection say ‘get out now’ but it disappears before he has a chance to say anything. Papyrus decides that is a better idea just to lay down and rest. He pops off his shoes and leaves his jacket on. It’s kinda chilly in his room and he doesn’t feel like getting under his sheets. His mind turns off and he can’t hear the heavy noise coming from Red’s room.

Tossing and turning in his nap, Papyrus jumps awake. Something feels off and the power is back on. Funny, he didn’t hear it click. His jacket his draped on his door and he finds himself under his sheets. Odd. Anyway, Papyrus gets out of bed. Taking a glance at his mirror across from his bed, nothing reflects back but himself and he departs from his room in a smile. Good. His deceased clone is leaving him alone.

Papyrus walks out of his room and down the hall wondering what that was all about. He even finds Red in the living room watching static. Alright, now this is starting to worry the tall skeleton. The couch potato snaps to attention when Papyrus walks into the living room and is standing within seconds. He seems to be shirtless again. Red suddenly gets angry and Papyrus fights back. He is getting sick of his roommates attitude and jabs his finger in his chest.

They argue about Undyne still and Papyrus stands toe to toe with his roommate. Tempers have flared up and neither are going to back down.

“Well maybe if you never came to my world, then I would still be with my family! It’s not my issue that your family is gone. My brother was in such a weaken state that he would have been no match for you. Before when you told me that there are endless possibilities, then maybe you should have looked harder to find a match for yourself. You are lazy as always!” Papyrus yells at Red. That was harsh, even for him. Red stands with his mouth open. He has to walk away. His is getting visibly angrier to the point where he can’t be near him. The glow in Papyrus’ eyes gets brighter. “Don’t you walk away from me! We aren’t finished.” Papyrus goes to grab Red shoulder to turn him around, but Red grabs his hand off of his arm and yanks Papyrus down, then drops him. Papyrus lands on his front with a thud.

              “ ** _Do. Not. Touch. Me._** ” Red relays in an echoed voice. Papyrus looks back up at him and sees a visible line imprinting into Red face. It goes down to his chin his eyes droop. “If what you are implying is true, then what is stopping me now?” His voice deepens as he takes a step closer to Papyrus. “I could easily dust you without using any magic. It would be fun.” Red snaps his head to the side onto the corresponding shoulder. Smaller lines form above his eyes and the left one emits red steam. “It’s been so long since I did this. Who knows, maybe I would gain LV.” Red rolls his head around. There are wet cracks and small mounds protrude from the back of his skull as well as his spine. Papyrus scoots along with ground trying to get away. Red can tell that Papyrus is terrified of him and gives a dark chuckle. “What’s wrong Papyrus? Can’t handle what you started?” Leaning over him with a malicious sneer, the small mounds on Red grow into spikes that tear out of the back of his gel as a long tail starts to poke out of his shorts. Red digs at his skull with long claws, marrow streaking down arms. His pants seem to rip at the knees as he grows out of them. Papyrus franticly looks around, thoughts racing in his skull.

‘I need to get away. He is going to kill me! Oh Merciful Angel!’ Then, suddenly getting an idea, Papyrus kicks Red’s legs out from under him. The demented skeleton drops to the ground with a hard thud and Papyrus gets his chance to run away, down to his room with a slammed door. There. Safety.

Until a second later as Red runs right into it, breaking it down. Wood splinters scatter everywhere and the force knocks Papyrus down on the ground. Red, whom is now much larger than before, looks like a large bone demon. Bisected jaw, long tail, and large spikes have seem to grow out of him. “You can’t hide from me in this house. I can still get in.” Red sings in a deep crazy singsong voice. They both stand in Papyrus room. Papyrus is dwarfed compared to Red now and he starts to walk up to the smaller skeleton. Large toe claws scrape into the floor. Soon Red is on top of him, holding him with massive front claws. There is no way something this large fits in his room, standing on two legs at full height.

“What are you?!” Papyrus cries as he is too terrified to break away. He can’t stop staring at Red. His maw has a sick twisted smile carved into each side. Red chuckles darkly. Deep crimson steam pours from the sides of his mouth and nose with every breath. He stares at his terrified meal with four small lifeless eyes. Papyrus is sobbing, fat tears down his face.

“I’m your worst nightmare.” Red’ smile cracks up into his face. Papyrus looks away in fear and spots another figure standing in his room. There is a dark vermillion apparition watching this happen. It’s taller than he is and a twisted frown seems to be present on its ‘face’. The demon splits his jaws and bites down onto Papyrus with a nasty crunch.

Waking with a yelp, Papyrus darts up from his back. Cold sweat gathers on his skull and forehead and he’s shaking. That was the scariest dream he has had and it felt so real. Something about that just wasn’t right. Red can be a jerk, but never a monster such as that. Why does he think that Red can shape shift? Normal monsters can’t do that, but then again, Red is no normal monster.

Papyrus lays in his room, looking up at the ceiling, the power is still out. The dream comments sting even though they were never really said. That look that Red had on his face when he said it him, it was so full of pain that it makes Papyrus shiver just thinking about. Even if it just was simulated, he just wants to forget out it for now and go back to his nap, but something isn’t letting him. The power is still out and since there is nothing really to do but take a much needed nap. Papyrus finally drifts off again, not really sure if he is sleeping or just in a lull.

              There is a loud thud in the room next to his. Then a door opens. Heavy foot falls walk down the hall and it sounds like something is being dragged along with it. Papyrus narrows his eye sockets, listening from the bedroom. He can hear Red’s voice, like he is muttering to himself. Slowly getting up off the bed, Papyrus softly steps over to his door and cracks it enough to look out into the living room. He can see a large figure pacing around the couch. Much too large to be Red. The figure stops to hold on to the back of the couch. His once short tail, now long and twitching has several spikes that seem to travel up it’s spine.

Opening the door more, Papyrus squints and things more. It has to be Red. He heard his door open, and finally, this taller skeletons soul drops in his chest and he starts to sweat. The image from his dream replays.

The figure starts to pace again. Papyrus has to strain, but can almost make out what it is saying. “I can’t change back. I need to go hide. I can’t go into work tomorrow, not like this.” Papyrus makes out a few sentences. Papyrus widens his sockets, finally getting a clear shot of the figure. It’s Red. The soft curved skull, large crimson gut, but he looks so wrong! There are visible spikes forming out the back of his head, along with the ones down his spine to a tail. His marrow goes cold. He looks just like he did in a nightmare that he just had. No way that this was coincidence! Maybe the other Papyrus needed him to see something. He secretly hopes that he is still sleeping and he passed out when he made it to his room, but a thought starts to play in his head. Red is starting to look more and more like the monster that saved him the night he was attacked.

              Red winces and digs his fingers into the back of the couch. An audible rip can be heard. The seams on his shorts pop and bone shows through the sides. Papyrus jumps at the sound as Red hunches over more. The spikes on the back of his head grow longer. His faces starts to push out into a muzzle and Red mutters more to himself. “I can’t calm down. I need to go. I need to go. Ineedtogo.” He repeats himself over and over again, voice getting deeper with each sentence. Suddenly, with a crimson flash, Red blips out of the room and is gone. Papyrus forces himself through the door frame, not afraid of his protector. In fact, he starts to feel bad about what he’s putting Red though.

              Papyrus hesitantly walks out into the living room to view the couch. There are large gashes dug into it. Red had never mentioned anything like this to him before and now Papyrus is starting to understand why. He was probably afraid to, or maybe this isn’t real and Papyrus is really asleep and the monster that saved him is haunting his dreams. It did look a lot like Red. He decides to head back to his room and lay down again. The power is still out and Papyrus thinks about his brother for a bit. If Sans was still here he could help him figure out what is going on. The other Papyrus was here a bit ago, maybe his brother is too! He considers pushing down his fear and trying to talk to him but it might not work, but his message lingers in his skull. ‘Get out now.’ Pap knew what was happing, didn’t he? Maybe he needs to get out of here. Whatever his roommate is, it’s clearly not good. It’s still raining outside.

              Returning to his room, Papyrus checks his phone again. It reads past four. Perfect. He then unlocks his screen and dials a number. A quick moment later, asoft voice picks up and gives him a warm greeting. It’s Toriel.

              “Hello dear, I hope all is well.” Her tone is warm and Papyrus can start to relax. Well, time to get this over with. “Hello your majesty. I need somebody to talk too. Somebody who won’t get upset.” Papyrus talks with tears in his eyes. He covers his face with a free hand.

              “Oh what’s the matter dear?” Toriel sounds worried. “Is it your roommate?” Papyrus nods like she would see him. He smacks himself and replies with a sad sigh.

              “I’ve tried talking to him about all of this. He gets aggressive when I bring it up. Red is acting like there is an issue about Undyne and I keep trying to tell him that nothing is wrong.” Papyrus sobs. He misses it when his roommate was fun. He was a little hard to get used to but this is horrible.

              “Well what do you want to do about it?” Toriel inquires. “Do you need to unwind here for a few days? Frisk would love to spend time with you, but all I have to offer is a couch and some hot food.” She offers her skeleton a place to stay for the night. Papyrus can feel his soul jump at the offer.

              “Y-yes please.” Papyrus jumps off his bed, beaming at the offer.

Toriel laughs on the other side. She could hear the excitement in his voice. “Well, how about this evening around six? It will give me time to find some blankets. Pack for a few days and we can go talk to Red together, okay?”

              They say their goodbyes and Papyrus quite literally jumps for joy. At the same time he is still worried about Red. It’s still raining out and rather dark, but the sun is going to set soon. The power is still off but that doesn’t stop Papyrus. He searches for a back pack in his closet and throws it on his bed. He pulls a few shirts and grabs some pants off the hangers. Along with an extra apron or two. His battle body still hangs up in his closet. A token reminder of long ago. Long skeletal fingers grace the fabric and soft smile grows on his face. A rather happy and pleased smile appears on Papyrus’ face.

              A rather large thud sounds from the room next to his and Papyrus almost jumps out of his clothes at the sound. There is more scrapping and a low grunt. It sounds like his roommate is home but he doesn’t care. More heavy footsteps and they stop. The floor boards creak hard and all sounds stop. Papyrus hopes that Red is okay, but he is afraid to see him. He did see something in the living room and the monster that defended him from his attacker looked awfully similar. Papyrus then props himself up on his bed and waits.

              The sounds start up from the next room over and Papyrus stays in his room trying not to make a noise. More sound in the hall and then living room. It comes back down the hall and knocks on his door. Papyrus lets out a yelp. Well, he can’t hide anymore.

              “Papyrus. I’m sorry.” The voice sounds very deep but it’s Red alright. “We need to talk.” The magic in Papyrus’ bones boil. Now he wants to talk? Papyrus still doesn’t respond. Red moves again behind the door. “Please. There is something I need to tell you.” Papyrus considers but still doesn’t move from the bed. He looks at this brother’s jar by his bed and looks back at the door sweating. “I’m not going to make you open the door, but please just hear me out. I know you are back there.” Red still talks. It sounds like he shifts down and leans up against the door, trapping Papyrus inside. “But you have to tell me if you want to hear it. Make a noise, something.” Scraping on his door and Red shifts again. Papyrus still doesn’t move.

              Time passes before Red moves outside the door again. He sighs and it sounds like he is getting up. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk, I’m not going to force you.” His voice is still deep but he gives up, freeing Papyrus once more. Red shuffles over to his own room and climbs onto his bed.

              Papyrus still sits in his bed and listens in. He can hear Red shuffle about in his bed but other than that, no other noises. No talking, no mumbling. This tall skeleton finally gets off his bed and unplugs his phone charger from the wall. He pockets that along with his keys. What was Red’s issue? He wanted to talk? Well maybe if he didn’t break the back of the couch then maybe Papyrus would be willing to talk.

With much stealth from the taller skeleton, Papyrus finishes packing and throws the bag over his shoulder. He pushes his shoes back on his feet and slowly opens his door. One foot out and a loud crunch is under foot. He lifts up is leg to find mud tracked all over the hall and into the living room. His door has bits of grass stuck to it and it leads into Red’ room. What on earth was he doing!?

              Tiptoeing over the bathroom, Papyrus recovers his toothbrush and pockets his soaps. It’s dry enough to deal with in his pocket and he crunches over to Red’s open door frame. He gives a sharp knock on the side and sucks air, gaining the attention of a double set of eyes from the dark of the room. One side white, the other crimson.

“I’m going to Tori’s for a few days. Once you calm down, we can talk again.” With that, Papyrus turns to leave the apartment. He crunches down the hall and makes it to the front door. Placing his hand on the knob, Papyrus looks back to see if Red has reacted in anyway. The front door is open slightly and Papyrus can see still the double sets of eyes glancing back in the darkness. Cold shivers run down his spine and he dashes out the apartment. Freedom.

              The long trek to Toriel’s home is soggy. The rain has become a light drizzle but it feels good on Papyrus bones. Maybe he can talk to Red about all of this and what happened back in the apartment, but right now, he needs to go see Toriel. It’s closing in on six and she will come looking for him.

              Its 6:15 before Papyrus makes it to Toriel’s townhouse. Frisk is sitting in the window watching the rain and spots the tall skeleton moving in. He jumps up and disappears. Papyrus smiles wide. At least somebody is happy to see him. Not a moment later, Frisk comes bolting out the door and welcomes Papyrus with open arms. Papyrus lifts the giggling child up and hugs him, his soul swelling his chest. Oh this feels good.

              “Papyrus! Good to see you.” Toriel appears in the door way with a coat on. She still seems to be in work clothes and looked to be ready to depart soon, most likely to go searching for him. The local school has benefitted greatly from her teaching there. She comes up and gives both him and Frisk a large hug. Papyrus puts the child down and Toriel guides him into the home out of the rain.

              They enter into the living room and Frisk departs, ducking into his room. Toriel holds Papyrus’ face his hands to get a good look at him. She looks one with worry and can tell he hasn’t been sleeping.

“Pappy dear, you look like you haven’t slept in ages. Here, let me get you some tea and take a seat on the couch.” Goat mother takes his coat from him and holds it under her arm. Then walks over into the kitchen and disappears. Ah, the power is on here, and the TV is turned over into the news. Papyrus does what he is told and sits on the couch. There is a blanket folded up, with a pillow sitting on the top, on the end cushion and Papyrus drops his bag next to his feet.

Hum, the storm knocked out more power than he thought. The park has same damage too, along with up the side of the mountain? What? The news report zooms in on some of the damage and those are quite clearly burn marks on the trees going up to the top. Whatever did that must have not been happy.

              Toriel returns with two cups of tea and seems to be talking to somebody with a deep voice. Oh. Asgore is over. Of course Asgore is over. Once Sans passed away, he started appearing more. Having to duck under the door way, the king of all monsters walks in with his own cup and sits on one of the adjacent chairs in the living room. Toriel joins him and both seem to be in a good mood. They were always there when his brother died. They were the only people that would seem to talk to him about emotional issues. Undyne was never there when he needed her the most. It still stings, but she was the person that told him to go see the King and Queen. Funny how Papyrus, just a lonely monster from Snowden is having tea with the King and Queen of all monsters. He gladly takes his cup and holds it under his nose, allowing its warmth to fill his soul.

              “So dear, what is with this issue and your roommate?” Toriel gets right to the point. Papyrus takes a deep breath and exhales. Both monsters wait on him to talk.  It takes him a moment to collect his thought and he begins.

              “Well, first it started out with simple things. Red would come home angry but it would clear. You saw how he acted with Undyne at Grillby’s when I got hurt.” Papyrus pauses for a moment. Toriel nods.

              “Yes, and his burning anger towards her. I saw the look on his face. He was afraid of losing you. He may act tough, but I know fear when I see it. He pushed so much of his magic in you that he fell out.” Toriel ads in defense of Red. That was a noble thing he did. Papyrus continues on.

              “Last week, we both agreed that Undyne would come over one morning to talk things out. He seemed reluctant but agreed. But when she came over, she was acting funny. We had a rather bad argument and he threw her out of his apartment. Like both hands, opened his door and threw her out into the hall. She told me afterwards. I ducked back into my room before I saw him throw her out and we had an argument before he went out to work. He punched the front door, leavening a sizable dent in the metal.” Papyrus stops to think. He looks up to get a view of his hosts. They both look horrified. Sparks of fire burn in Toriel’s eyes. How could somebody do such a thing to Papyrus? But the thing is, Papyrus isn’t finished with his story and both monsters can see that.

              “And when I returned from work today, I find him drunk on the couch! We had another augment and he snapped the wooden supports on the back of his furniture. I haven’t told Undyne any of this and he hasn’t laid a finger on me.” There, that’s the last of the current events. Both of his hosts are up to speed. He did happen to leave out the whole nightmare and the thing in the living room part.  Frisk also hasn’t come out from his room yet and Papyrus is starting to guess that he was told to stay put for a while until this is all over. Asgore is the first to speak.

              “He hasn’t laid a finger on you yet. It seems like he has a pretty bad anger issue and this is becoming unsafe for you.” Asgore looks over to Toriel and she nods. They both give Papyrus a stern look. “You need to decide what you want for yourself. We can’t tell you want to do.” Asgore explains. Toriel agrees.

              “We only want what is best for you.” Toriel talks and looks over to Asgore. “Besides, this Red has a LV of 15 from what I’ve been told. If he really wanted to hurt you dear, then he would have done so already.” She explains this to Asgore. He shakes his head and widens his eyes. That’s not right. To Asgore, he doesn’t know a single sensible monster with a LV over 10. But it is what it is. This just isn’t fair to Papyrus.

              “What I’m afraid of dear is that he is going to make you choose. Undyne or himself.” Toriel looks over Papyrus with worry. “I’m afraid that he is going to give you the ultimatum and if you choose wrong, he might kick you out.” There. It’s been said. Papyrus’ soul drops in his chest and once again, he is at the threat of losing his home. Papyrus talks more with Toriel about what ifs. Like what if Red does kick him out. Where is he going to go and so forth. She tells him that this time she will gladly accept him into her home, where it is always safe and cozy.

 

             

* * *

 

              Frisk sits in his room listening on this conversation with glee. Good! This is ruining their perfect world. And the little plotted flower sitting next to him stare with a sour look on his face disk.

“Why do you just go and kill them already, Chara?” Flowey is convinced that Frisk is possessed by Chara. He is far from the truth. “You already got that smiley trash bag.” Flowey folds his leaves. Frisk glances over to him.

“Oh but this is so much more fun. It seems like this red Sans is slowly destroying his relationships with everybody, and for the last time Asriel, I’m not Chara. I’m Frisk, all me. I got my soul back from your best friend. Besides, I don’t think I could take this Sans but I think I could push him over the edge. Maybe get the others to push him away.” The scheming child sits his hand on his chin. This is gold! This child didn’t plan any of this, not a lick. He’s just in for the ride, watching with glee from the side lines.

              Flowey wiggles back and forth in his pot. “And what if this smiley trash bag doesn’t react the way you want him too?” He frowns. Frisk laughs. “Don’t be silly. Fell Sans’ are known to have a mean streak a mile wide, as my late Sans told me so. It just takes a few pokes in the right direction to get him to react, but at this rate, I don’t have to do anything. Fish for brains will take care of that.”

              Chatter can still be heard out in the living room. It doesn’t sound as somber as it did before. Guess that’s Frisks cue to return. He gets up to leave but stops at his door. A sinister smile grows on his face. “And I know you will keep this quiet still, won’t you?”

Flowey’s face changes out of anger. It stays white but a disk splitting grin stretches across and two red eyes stare back. He doesn’t stay a thing. Frisk smirks. “Thought so.” He departs from his room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMFG, I can't believe i forgot the mustard for Red. I cosplay as this jerk and I forgot about his mustard consumption.  
> 


	14. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a good day with Papyrus! He goes to lunch with a friend. It's a good day!

              A few days with the royal family and many conversions later, Papyrus finally decides to return home. It’s starting to get chilly out now and even though our skeleton doesn’t have skin, it’s that fun time of year where fluffy coats and sweaters are back in fashion.

After departing from the cozy townhouse, a dark pit forms in the tall skeletons lower stomach. Papyrus has to return to him. To _that._ He knows what he saw. Toriel even offered to come with him, but Papyrus politely declined. He can take Red. He just knows it. His roommate always redirected his anger into something else. Yeah it was scary, but it seems like me made a point to not hurt the younger skeleton. Maybe he does care.

The trek across town isn’t too bad. The sun is out, birds fly around. The city is rather busy today. Papyrus makes it onto King Street. Okay, here we go. A few blocks down, more to go.

The tall skeleton passes his old apartment complex and soon makes his way over to Grillby’s. He comes across the location from where he was attacked. Papyrus stops to think. He stands to the side to allow other foot traffic to pass and turns his head to face Grillby’s bar.

Papyrus scans the area. It’s already been picked clean by the teams that came through, led by Undyne of course. He narrows his sockets and thinks. Papyrus still doesn’t understand where all this is coming from. A few words that Frisk said to him are making him think though. Something along the lines of this Red isn’t a good monster. He wants his XP and this is his way of having fun. Good thing Papyrus didn’t mention anything about Red’ little issue. Or large issue. He really needs to get that figured out. Like, what is his roommate?

The tall skeleton looks across the street and back over to where he was told of the alley that Red came out of. The team lead by Undyne found a lot of torn fabric, both from Red and that younger monster, but that doesn’t make since. Along with large claw marks on concrete. What really happened Red? Only he knows and he is quite adamant about the fact that he left Grillby’s, a large monster blew the other monster to dust, and took him inside for healing. Something isn’t adding up, but the case is closed so any and all info is off limits.

Papyrus decides to just head home. It’s not worth trying to dwell on past memories, but he does faintly recall seeing very large monster appear, charge at the teen and a bright light. The sound of a shattered soul and the familiar hiss of steam raising for the ground. Then darkness. There is still a scorch in the ground from where it happen.

Those thoughts still makes Papyrus shutter. How close he was to death, so close he saw his own brother. He really does miss that lazy skeleton.

In a short time, Papyrus makes it to the Snowdin Hills Apartment complex. A shorter trek up the stairs and he makes it to his home. The dent is still in the door. With a hard gulp, Papyrus pulls his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door. The keys shake in his hands and make a jingle. The standard apartment hall door locks on its own so he needs the keys to get in and out.

And Papyrus is greeted with a clean apartment. It seems like Red was busy. All the mud is gone, all the dirt is off the walls. Hell, even the kitchen has been cleaned and the couch has been repaired. He must have been really busy. The stiches go up the side and look really good. The taller skeleton walks all the way into the apartment and allows the door behind him to close.

“Red!” His shrill voice calls out. It cracks and Papyrus is surprised at his own sound. He calls out again, this time not sounding as scared. Standing in the living room, he waits. No sounds. It’s early enough in the day that if Red was home, he would catch him. Well, it seems like its all good. For now at least.

Papyrus makes his way down into his room. It’s untouched and the bits of grass are off his door. At least the lazy bones can clean. Opening the door, it’s like he is greeted by a familiar warmness in his room. He mentally greets his own brother as he places his back pack on the bed. All of clothes are clean, so it’s just a matter of putting them away in their respective spots. Suddenly his phone buzzes in his pocket and Papyrus drops his socks into his dresser. He goes to check his phone and it’s Frisk! Wonder what his good friend wants? He unlocks the screen.

“Pappy! Want to go to Grillby’s for lunch? Red isn’t there so it’s safe.” It reads. Papyrus thinks on this. He needs something good in his stomach right now, it will help ease the knot that has seemed to form.

“Yes! That is a most excellent idea. I shall meet you there. The usual booth?” Papyrus replies, locks his phone and places it on his nightstand next to his bed. During the time on waiting for a reply, Papyrus returns to putting his clothes away. He quickly has his bag unpacked, soaps returned to the shared bathroom and his phone blinks as he plucks it off the stand. The phone buzzes again.

“You bet. Noon good?” Frisk returns. Its 10 now is it gives Papyrus enough time to relax in the apartment. Papyrus sends his message in no time and Frisk replies back to confirm his time request. Good! It’s a date. Hehe. Only this time, he isn’t trying to give his friend over to Undyne.

 

* * *

 

 

Grumbling as he scrubs another rather feisty dish, Red happens to be at an early shift at Grillby’s today. Not wanting to stay at home, he mindlessly works at his task at hand and his thoughts float around in his skull. Today, his tail is hidden under his belly fold, to keep the feisty thing under control.

The last few days haven’t been good to him. Stress compounded with the thoughts of losing his one good light in the darkness of his life currently, Red has struggled to sleep and eat for a few days. Cleaning up the mud in the apartment was no easy task either. His room was nasty: grass, mud, sticks and leaves plagued the small area. A small branch even made it back with him. Which has been cut, stuck in a pot and is somehow still living in his room, along with a little bit of green magic. Anxiety makes him do weird shit. Cutting the back of the couch open, or more like popping older seams to get back at the hardware underneath, was no easy task either. It took two days, but Red managed put the couch back together. He is hoping that Papyrus wouldn’t find the gashes in the back. That little drunk argument made him lose his cool, and it’s starting to become more common with all of this is happing. He tried talking to his roommate about all of this, but he just won’t listen. It’s like he is blinded by Undyne. Just thinking about her makes the stocky skeleton angry again. But trying to force it all down is having some adverse side effects, no longer being able to control his magic. If he slips, well, it’s not going to be pretty.

The hustle and bustle of the kitchen is a good one today and it seems like crew lunch is about to be served. Red drifts as he places the dishes into the Hobart next to him and examines his work station. No more pots nor pans. Break time. He starts the Hobart and walks away.

              Red meanders over to the tiny table set up in the back for kitchen staff and rests with his arms on the surface. The other crew doesn’t seem to want to talk to him since he is in a mood, but they join him anyway and make light hearted jokes. They don’t like leaving him all alone and sometimes he lightens up as more japs fly. Today is not one of those days.

              Somehow, word that Frisk is in the building, along with Papyrus, makes it to Red. His soul drops in his chest. Papyrus is just fucking with him. Red is sure if it. He doesn’t know that Papyrus is blissfully unaware of the current location of his roommate and Red doesn’t leave the kitchen.  He just eats his crew lunch in peace and gets back to work.

              Catching quips of conversation from the waiting staff, it seems like there is a small amount of commotion from the front. It sounds like somebody is going to jail. Hehe, Red wonders if he is going to have to live up to his other title today.

              One of the waiters, the teen that’s the red spider, Claudia, quickly walks into the kitchen. Over to Red.

              “Hey, um, you need to get out of here.” She approaches him, note pad and pen in the lowest set of hands, the top set is crossed and the middle is on the hips. Red turns over to look at her with a confused expression. He is not in the mood for this.

              “Excuse me?” Red places his scrubbing pad and the pot down into the sink. The spider urges on.

              “Undyne is out there looking for you. Grillby is trying to hold her off.” Claudia looks back to the door leading into the dining room. Then back at Red. “Go, now!”

              There is more yelling out in the dining room and the sound travels to behind the door. Two voices can be heard, very clearly, through the door.

              “You can’t go back there!” Sounds like Grillby.

              “With this warrant I can. IF he is back there and you are trying to protect him, you will be arrested too, aiding and abetting a criminal.” The yelling backs off. “Thought so.”

              “The city will be hearing from me.”

The sound then bursts threw the door and its Undyne with the most livid expression Red has ever seen. She locks eye to eye sockets and a large toothy grin cracks along her face. Grillby stands behind her with crackling fire and crossed arms.

              “On behalf of the power that is instead in me by the city, Comic Sans Ingis, you are under arrest for domestic abuse. I have your warrant right here.” She fights to hold back a cackle, holding a slip of paper in her hands. Under her eye patch, a small wisp of light glows underneath. She is dressed up to the nines, in full uniform from the city. She leads the monster side of the police force. The city figured that it would be a good positon for her due to her prior position from under the mountain.

              Red cannot believe at what he is seeing. He is getting arrested?! _For fucking what?_ The crimson orb in his left socket blazes hard. This is personal. It just has to be. Red rings his hands together to control himself. He’s livid.

              Undyne stomps over and grabs Red by the arm, causing him to drop the dishes that he was cleaning. His magic crackles under her touch.

              “I didn’t do a damn thing! I don’t know what you are talking about.” Red tries to explain himself. She has a warrant so he has to go, that’s how it works up here. This isn’t good for his current issue.

              “Well, the marks on your apartment door and testimonies from the tenants on your shared floor tell a different tale. They all told me that you have had screaming matches with Papyrus and the sound of something breaking was clear.” Undyne explains with great glee in her voice. Red, of course, isn’t having any of it and yanks his arm free from Undyne. She grabs him again, this time with more vigor and handcuffs that wrist, then yanks his other arm back to handcuff the other. Both crackle with magic. Red starts to growl at Undyne. It doesn’t faze her.

              “Time to go.” She announces as she pushes him out of the kitchen. If she doesn’t think Red can’t fight back, then she is so wrong. The way she is acting, she wants him too. Give her a reason to further the charges. Red can tell she is getting frustrated that he is playing nice, but the stocky skeleton on the other hand, he is using every ounce of his magical wellbeing to hold in the emotion that he feels, as well as keeping his magic from slipping. If one goes, both go and that won’t be pretty.

              Undyne pushes Red out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

And low and behold, who is sitting there in the first booth closet to the kitchen? Papyrus, with horror plastered on his face. He gets a front row seat to watch all of this unfold. The taller skeleton was enjoying lunch with his close friend Frisk, but it turns out somebody wasn’t being truthful. Papyrus was mid sip of his drink and almost choked on it as Undyne pulled Red out of the kitchen. They lock eyes and Papyrus gives whimper. Frisk picks up on it and hides his face, quiet clearly stifling a giggle.

Red is too focused on Papyrus to notice. A fire burns in his soul, Papyrus did this to him. This is what happens when you include Undyne. The seething anger in his face would make any monster cower. Undyne grabs the back of his skull and points him towards the door.

              “That’s enough. Time to go. You aren’t going to torment him any longer.” Undyne snickers. That comment just about set Red off and he wiggles in her grasp.

              “You better have your shit together Undyne. Because if I find out this is personal, I’m coming after you. I will have your badge in my claws.” Red snarls back at Undyne. The marks are returning, small lines go up his face. Papyrus hides his face in his hands.

              Poor Grillby can’t do anything. Red looks back at his boss and all he can do is blink. He looks sorry. This isn’t far to either of them. Undyne should have not have made this as public as she did, and should have taken Red out of the back.

Undyne stops and turns back to Grillby. “Oh and one other thing: I suggest thinking about his employment. You don’t want a known criminal working for you, in a family restaurant.” Venom dripping from her voice. Grillby crackles at that comment. There is nothing that he can do. Nothing that he can say, and that alone causes his flames to crackle harder.

              The duo finally make it out of the restaurant. Red is as livid as ever and has considered teleporting out of her grip many times. There is a cop car outside of the restaurant waiting on them both and Undyne shoves him into the back seat. The urge to teleport is still strong with this one, crimson magic dances across his face and burns in his one eye. It’s still taking everything in his power to control himself, but if he were to slip, all of his issues would be over. She was be gone and Papyrus would leave him. He wonders how that would look in a car, as he would tear out of that weak piece of metal like tin foil. That idea lingers in his brain, as does the allowing him to slip idea going along with it.

              The ride down town was long and quiet. Longer than Red wanted it to be, in the back of a car, the ride almost makes him sick. He can’t handle the movement very well and he leans against the window, trying not to puke up magic. Good thing Undyne didn’t drive, otherwise she might have made this worst for him.

              They finally make it to the station and poor Red is completely crimson in the face. Anger blended over into nausea and he feels awful. If he teleported now, he might get sick on himself. Undyne and the driver, just a normal human officer, both exit the vehicle and she opens the back door for Red. He almost falls out of the car and she laughs at him. “Not much of a car person?” She taunts. Red just glares. She grabs his closest arm and lifts him out of the car. Fresh air and freedom. The stocky skeleton wobbles in place and Undyne closes the door with the other free hand, she then pushes him in to the building.

              Red rolls his eyes. He knows what is about to happen. Not the first time in a cell. In this world, yeah, but back at home? He has been caught with contraband before, many times. Undyne shoves him down into a building, past a metal detector and into the station.

The fluorescent lights buzz overhead. The processing room is busy with officers booking criminals and getting statements from everybody else. Red gets a lot of stares from just about everybody that sits around, who aren’t busy with paper work. Undyne shoves him along with the largest ear splitting grin ever. Many comments fly around. ‘It’s him!’ ‘He looks scary up close.’ Along with more insults. Its times like this Red wishes he didn’t have to play nice. The only thing that is stopping him is the desire to stay. Otherwise, they would be sweeping Undyne off the pavement. His own magic as finally settled down and he is forced to enter a small cubical.

Undyne takes the handcuffs and moves them to Red’s front. There is a chair for her to sit and a place for him to stand, complete with foot prints on the floor. He stands over them with a bored look on his face. It takes her a moment, but Undyne gathers all of the necessary paper work. She then organizes them in her preferred order and looks up to a very bored Red.

“Standard procedure, there is a process that we have to go through.” Undyne begins. Red still looks bored. Undyne raises a brow and relaxes her face. “Everything you say can be used against you in the court of law. Understand?” Red doesn’t move. Undyne continues. She gets up to walks over to the camera in her office. She turns it on and its little red light blinks. “State your full name and address for the camera.” Undyne stares down at Red. He still looks bored.

“Comic Sans Ingis. 1028 King St, Apartment number 309. Mt.Ebott 35789.” Red replies in a flat tone. Undyne is unamused at Red’s behavior. No anger, no nothing. Red, of course, knows this very well and it’s humorous to him. Since he doesn’t have finger tips, Undyne has to take a magic sample from his hand. She collects everything she needs from him and has him stand against the cubical wall. She then hands him a small board with numbers on it, and his name. Mug shots. Fun. There is a height stand and she used her camera to gather his mug shots. Of course Red stays neutral. She instructs him to return to his earlier spot and she returns to her chair.

There is noise outside of the cubical but they both ignore it. The silence in the cubical is painful. Red still stands neutral and coughs. Undyne, without looking out, moves as slowly as she can. Finally, she finishes with paper work and looks up. Red is very irritated still, but has control. Here we go.

“So you know why you are here.” Undyne begins. The smile still remains. “You got angry and took it out on Papyrus. Is that correct?” A spark of angry glows in her eye. Red scoffs.

“No, I haven’t touched him.” The stocky skeleton snarls. Undyne doesn’t buy it. They stare off at each other for a moment. Magic crackles in Red’ eyes.

“You got angry the day after I visited and punched your front door. I interviewed the other tenets. They told me there was a lot of yelling, a loud pound and you stormed out, very livid.” Undyne continues. Red can’t deny that. Both know that and Undyne uses it to her advantage.

“And a second incident, last week during the storm, you broke the back of your couch. I was told that you where rather drunk and it was early in the day. Developing issues are we?” Red can see the anger build in Undyne. Her pointed nails dig into her desk, fins on her head tilt back, cyan magic crackles around her eye patch. All he can do is look away. Yeah, he did those two acts.

“I never aimed for Papyrus, and in my defense, he pushed me down during the second act. I fell on the ground, onto my back and tail.” Red replies, still looking away. That isn’t helping his case, but its more info. “For the record, I hide my tail in my pants for work, so that it is out of the way.

“Oh, so they did happen? That’s admitting guilt…” Undyne hesitates. It seems that it’s hard for her to call this monster Sans for the camera. That just makes him angry and he decides to press it.

“Admitting guilt who? Is… is it hard for you to call me by my real name? Is it hard for you to call me _Sans_?!” He mocks her. “Pathetic!” Getting angry at each other isn’t worth it, but Red will be damned if he can’t get a little amount of enjoyment out of this. Undyne slams her fists on her desk.

“Do not mock me! You are in no position to mock!” She growls at him. Red laughs. He laughs harder than he has in a while. It’s the kind of laugh that’s deep in the belly. Undyne tilts her head. “I’ve got a fun question for you: How can you stop a monster that can _teleport?”_ He shakes his chains at her. Undyne’s eye twitches and she snarls. “You better not.”

“Better not what?” Red acts all innocent. He holds his hands up to his face. “Why, I don’t know what you are talking about. I haven’t do anything wrong.” A large grin grows on his face. “Here.” He snickers. Oh this will be fun. Undyne squints her good eye. “What are you talking about?”

“You think this is the only place I’ve been? Haven you not have this talk with your Sans before? Every wonder why I look so much like him and we share the same mannerisms? It’s because   _I  A M  H I M .”_ His voice echoes as his eye lights drop. “ _I’m him from a different point in a much larger world_.” Red’s eye lights return and his voice becomes normal. He wants to see her face when he says this. Undyne looks confused. This red Sans smiles even harder.

“You used to break open the rocks in waterfall to get the shiny crystals when you were younger. You found one for Alphys after the day you met her at the dump. After she considered throwing herself in.” Red takes a step closer. Undyne starts to get angry, rage builds in her face. “You found her one day, in the act. You promised not to tell anybody, but you needed to. You told the only other person that you thought that cared for her. The only other person you knew could trust to hold a secret.” Red is now standing at her desk. He presses his cuffed hands on the surface, over the papers that sit on her desk. “But another secret died with him, didn’t it. Something you didn’t want to get out.” Red pauses and study’s Undyne’s face. A small tear beads on the side of her good eye. Cyan dances across her cheeks. A crackle of magic comes from the officer. It’s like he is trying to get her angry.

“How do you know that?” Undyne speaks through her teeth. Her nails dig deeper into her wooden desk. Red stares deep into her good eye. His hands sprawl on over the papers and he cracks a wicked smile and lends in closer.

“Because I _am_ Sans” The stocky skeleton talks with a low voice. It becomes a staring match between the two. It lasts for a while, until Undyne breaks, quite livid.

“Alright, time to go.” She yells, pounding her fists into the desk. The now livid fish gets up, moves over to skeleton, grabs him by the arm and drags him closer. She is now growling and is stiff in her movements. Red, of course is cackling hysterically like a mad man.

Undyne drags him out of her cubical, down the hall and into processing. There is an office waiting there that pats Red down and takes everything that isn’t a shirt, pants and shoes from him and documents it, along with freeing his tail, it wiggles back and forth. All he is left with is his work jacket, his work pants, and his non slip shoes. Undyne then drags Red down to a holding cell.

“This is your home for the night. You will stay here, and then tomorrow you will be released, and when you are, you better stay away from Papyrus.” The aquatic monster goes to throw the skeleton inside the large holding cell. There are others inside. Some of them drunk. Others are have just committed a petty crime. They snap to attention when Red being held at the entrance, while Undyne opens the door. Taking a moment before unshackling him, Undyne pulls Red close.

“You might be a Sans, but you will never be _our_ Sans. Papyrus is moving out in a week. He doesn’t want anything to do with you. You lost.” Venom dripping from her words. That alone was enough to break Red’ harsh façade. She shoves him into the cell with all the others, then slams the door shut with a loud bang. She turns to take a step back and Red snaps back around to face Undyne, grabbing onto the bars, bending them apart.

“I never wanted to be your Sans! I just wanted peace. Is that too much to ask for?!” Red pounds his hands against the cell bars, voice cracking. Undyne doesn’t even grace him with a response, she just turns and leaves. The still livid skeleton turns to face his new cell mates. They all eye him with fear and leave him alone, giving him a wide berth. He picks a corner and claims it for the night, giving him a chance to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *maniacal cackling fills the air* Sooo, what do you guys think? Good day hun.


	15. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting home from jail, and under a lot of pressure, Red gets to have a lovely conversion with his roommate.

The morning light of the outside glows in through the high barred windows of Mt. Ebott Regional Jail. Deep inside the building holds a large a cell, and inside, sits a rather motley crew. A few sobered up drunks, along with some angry humans, and two rather depressing looking monsters. It seems some of the humans are still unhappy that the monsters made it up to the surface and the more aggressive of the bunch like to take their anger out on them, knowing they aren’t allowed to fight back. Which, in turn, doesn’t stop some of the monsters, hence why our stocky skeleton isn’t alone in that cell.

The city starts to buzz with activity. Business open. Humans and Monsters alike go out to either work or for leisure. Our crew is stuck inside, waiting on their release or further arrests. Some get pulled and cuffed again, after finding out that they have other warrants waiting on them. Others can go home.

So after a long night in a cell, Red is finally ready to go home. Even though he could have gone hours ago; it’s best to play nice, this time. Not having a chance to go idle, his mind raced the entire night, tail sore from wiggling. Papyrus is going to leave him and he is going to be alone once again. That’s not right. _PAPYRUS SHOULD BE THE ONE TO TELL HIM._ Just because he looks scary doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings, just that thought of Papyrus leaving him alone is enough to break Red. He really likes Papyrus. This isn’t fair. Maybe… Maybe he can get his roommate to talk to him. Get his side of the story. After all, this stewing makes Red angrier and crushes his soul at the same time. Maybe it would just be better to start anew.

A hard knock on the cell bars causes Red to jump out of his thoughts. It’s a cop, pulling detainees out of the cell, one by one. They are calling names in order and it seems like Red is next. The other monster, a female fish monster with a dark blue and yellow color pattern, still lingers around him, much to Red’ disdain. He didn’t want her near him but it’s the nicer option of letting her stay than go around all the horrible humans; one of which, she got into a fight with.

The cop’s voice rings out in the room and soon he gets down to Red’s; he then perks up, lumbers over and stands, groggily, at attention, tail drooping. The cop calmly explains that he has no further charges, that he is free to go and will follow the others down the hall to retrieve his belongings.

Red chuckles to himself. No further charges. What an unlawful arrest in his mind. He narrows his eyes at his thoughts as he follows behind another. It’s better to just lumber behind the other prisoners over to retrieve his belongings and go home. It still takes a while to come down from his anger, forcing himself to relax, blinking away his aggression. Finally, Red gets to the officer that returns his items. He is standing behind a counter with bars and a little opening. There is a box next to him.

“Comic.” The officer speaks. Ugh, he is using his first name. Red shudders. The officer ignores it and continues on. “Here are your items.” He holds up a bag and opens it.

“One wallet. One small vial of dust. One cell phone. A napkin. Another small container, glass this time, of something that glows red. Care to enlighten me on that?” The officer orders. Red swallows and thinks.

“It’s just some magic that I got from my brother. That’s where the dust comes from.” Red delivers in a flat tone. The cop buys it and doesn’t press the issue. Phew. Red is handed his items, pockets them, and turns to leave. He makes it out of the station as quickly as possible. Oh wonderful, his phone is out of battery.

It’s a bright morning, kinda chilly, but Red decides to walk home. He looks around to gather his bearings and walks over a few streets down to Prince. It’s a rather long road that travels straight through the middle of the city, which connects to King a few blocks down. Whispers follow the stocky skeleton as he walks down the street and crimson dances on his face. Teleporting home sounds like a great idea right now, but walking will clear his mind.

Suddenly, it hits Red. He is going to have to walk by Muffet’s. Maybe his roommate isn’t at work, but if he isn’t at work, then he might be home. Red checks his phone only to remember that it’s dead weight in his pocket. What time does Papyrus head to work again? It feels like it’s the right time but curse it all if Red didn’t sleep through his roommate’s morning routine. That thought lingers for a while as he walks down the street.

Time passes, along with a few traffic lights and Red walks up to Muffet’s. A donut and some coffee sounds good right about now, but he isn’t sure if he will be welcomed inside. Instead, Red just turns and walks on, head hanging low. Almost home.

Walking along the street, through a few crowds of pedestrians, Red hears a light gasp and looks up. Its Papyrus on his way to work and Red quickly darts his attention back to the ground and walks on. He doesn’t hear Papyrus turn and follow behind. Already angry tears prick at his sockets and Red tries to block out anything from Papyrus.

“Please talk to me! Come on!” Papyrus calls, trying to get his attention. Red just walks on, ignoring him. He has nothing nice to say right now and wants some rest, and the thought of talking to Papyrus kills him, causing his magic to boil again. It doesn’t help that Red just got over forcing it all down, he doesn’t need to start again. He might lose this go around. Instead, he just walks on. As quickly as his stubby legs can carry his large frame. Teleporting is now a bad idea, he would defiantly would lose his grip on his magic, and explaining that today isn’t something that Red wants to do.

The trek is long but Red finally makes it back to his apartment, and the first thing he does is head down to his room to plug his phone in for a charge. It ran out of battery overnight and Red has huge feeling that there are messages on his phone, but that’s going to have to wait. A much needed shower, along with a nap is rather dire right now. In that order, but boy howdy, does Red feel sick.

The skeleton plucks the items out of his pockets and forces off his clothes, he then locates a pair of shorts and stumbles over to his bathroom. Not even bothering on waiting for the water to warm up, Red just gets in. It turns from cold to warm and he just stands in the stream with his hands in his face. All the dirt and sweat rolls off his body and Red has to scrub out folds and divots. He just stands in the shower until the water turns to cold once again, trapped in thought. Even in the cold stream, Red still feels hot. He feels sick and bends over in the stream. Hot magic forces it way up and spews all over the shower stall.

“Ugh gross, I just cleaned this.” Red gargles and dry heaves, expelling whatever he had down in that pit he calls a stomach. In the shower stall there is a small location to hang towels and Red has a tight grip on it as he heaves. It’s painful. It’s tiring, and his magic beings to slip. Noticing that his fingers beginning to form claws, forearms gaining sharp points, Red stops himself, no matter how painful. He shakes and cusses. Then turns a knob to cancel out the cold water. It seems like he is going to have to clean the shower stall again.

“I don’t have time for this… Why me?” Practically whimpering in the shower stall, Red just grabs a towel and dries off. He turns to face the sink and can’t hold back the tears any longer. To him, sadness is weakness and he growls at himself. A very tired face with dark lines, a nasty looking split and bumps stare back at is owner. Red raises a fist to break the mirror, but he decides it not worth it. Another thing to fix. He can’t talk to Papyrus, he doesn’t have any other friends besides Grillby and now his magic is starting to go. All this stress is wearing him down to the point where he isn’t even sure of himself anymore. Wait, speaking of Grillby, Red darts back into his room, picks up his phone and turns it on. He takes that time to force on his shorts and a stray shirt from his floor. It smells clean enough. The phone buzzes on the surface that it sits upon and goes for a solid minute. It seems like Red have a whole slew of messages to delete. Some are from Papyrus, others are from Grillby. A few random numbers, which he just deletes and that’s it. Time for voice mail. One message and it’s from the boss. Oh no. Red replays it once, twice and a third time. It doesn’t sound good and he decides to call Grillby. Pacing around in the room, he redials the number and Grillby picks up after a third ring.

“Red. I don’t have much time to talk.” Grillby greets him a worried voice. Red gulps air and gets right to the point. “Do I still have a job with you?” Grillby pauses for a moment. Anticipation is killing Red and he unwillingly summons bones around him. The jagged whites surround his feet and lift items up off the floor. At this point, Red doesn’t care and Grillby goes to speak again.

“I’m so sorry old friend. I deeply regret to inform you that your status as an employee of my restaurant is now terminated.” Grillby’s voice crackles. Red falls back on his bed. Grillby continues. “I’m very sorry for the events of yesterday. I tried to tell her to do this at a later time but she stormed past with a sadistic glint in her eye. She then returned and threatened that if I didn’t terminate you as an employee of mine, that she would work with the city to get my restaurant shut down. You saw how she unlawfully arrested you and got away with it! Papyrus even told me that he never pressed charges! That all of this was all a misunderstanding.”

Red is silent on his end. He can’t even form a coherent word without his voice cracking. Grillby doesn’t have time to talk, due to the fact that he opens soon, and he informs Red of this issue. Red finally gathers the will to talk before Grillby has to hang up. “Thank you.” His voice cracks. Its soft but the will to speak is finally there. “Thank you for everything. For being a friend when I really needed it. For looking pass my appearance and faults. For… for being the only monster that gave me a chance.” More angry tears streak down Red’s cheekbones. Fat droplets of light crimson splash on his shirt and floor. “So, I understand that you have to go. I don’t have the will to fight any more. Good-bye.” With that, Red hangs up. He can’t stop crying, which makes him even angrier. Becoming more livid as the tears roll, along with longer teeth that push their way out of his mouth, Red hasn’t been this mad since his brother died. Maybe everybody is right. He is just a worthless monster. Red just stays in place, eye lights dropped. Not moving, no indication that he is living.

Later on, the front door to the apartment opens and the lone skeleton still doesn’t move. He doesn’t look up as footsteps slowly travel down the hall and stop at the thrush-hold of his doorway. Bones are still summoned in the ground and point towards the sound. A voice gasps and backs up against the wall.

“P-please unsummon y-your attacks. I w-want to talk.” The voice is shaky. It doesn’t travel or break. Red finally looks up to find a rather terrified Papyrus. The attacks drop but he still doesn’t speak. His face twists into his trademark grin with only a single crimson glowing eye remaining in his skull, along with the split in his face and longer teeth, making him look as terrifying as ever, and it focuses on Papyrus, who now has sweat rolling down his face, boring into his soul.

“That’s funny. Because I’s remember ya mommy tellin me that I can’ ever talk ta ya again, let alone be in the same room as ya.” Red slurs his snarls. He stands up from his bed, tears still stain his face.

“Can we please talk?” Papyrus, still unmoving, pleads with the livid skeleton.

“Oh but I gots nothin nice ta say. Yous don’t want ta talk ta me.” Red returns, still sounding as menacing as before. That doesn’t faze Papyrus. He stands tall.

“Come on. I didn’t go to Undyne! She never came to me about any of this either. I was as surprised as you were.” The tall skeleton explains. Red isn’t buying it. Instead, he moves in closer.

“Fine, you want me ta talk? I’s talk.” Red pauses to take a breath, forcing himself to talk normally. Papyrus looks hopeful. Unware of what is to come.

“I regret asking ya to be my roommate! Happy?!” Tears prick at the sides of the stocky skeletons sockets once again as he slurs. As does Papyrus’. “I regret ever showing ya kindness. I regret allowing you into my life. Things where so much simpler when I was an asshole!” Neither skeleton is sure who this hurts more. “And even for me to think for one second that I started to like you. Hell, almost love you like the family that I lost.” Red explains in a mocking tone. He inhales again. “But I’m wrong. I guess it would be better if I was the monster that everybody wanted me to be. I give up. I want to go home.” Red has to look away. He has to turn and find something else to focus on, otherwise he is going to shift more. Already, his body starts to take on a hunch as longer claws push out on his fingers and toes, along with spines popping up behind his shirt.

“You don’t mean that, do you?” Papyrus askes. Red really wants to tell the truth but this is causing him too much pain. He has already shown weakness to Papyrus by allowing him to see his tears, what more does he want?

“Every fuckin word.” The stocky skeleton can’t make eye contact anymore, and Papyrus picks up on it.

“No you don’t. Why are you acting like this?” Papyrus takes a step forward and Red doesn’t notice. He just stays focused on the ground.

“Oh, it’s it obvious? I’m a soulless being. I don’t care about anybody but myself.” Eye light drops again as Red’s dark smile remains. His aura around him darkens.

“That’s not true. You’ve shown me nothing but kindness. Albeit, it was in your own form, but it was recognizable.” Papyrus begins, moving closer. “You were there when I was having issues, when I couldn’t sleep.” Red finally snaps his attention up and glares hard at Papyrus, Crimson eye light returning. Papyrus jumps at the attention.

“So what were these last two weeks? Just fun time with the skeleton brothers?” Voice cracking, Red doesn’t move. Papyrus stays over the thrush-hold of his roommate’s door, not entering his room.

“That’s wasn’t what _you_ wanted, I just know it. But you saved me!” Papyrus looks on with a hopeful glance. Red looks away again. He stumbles over to the far corner of his room, back to Papyrus. Good thing he is respecting his space.

“So that was nothing? You don’t care about me. You didn’t almost hurt yourself to keep me alive.” Papyrus begins again. Red doesn’t answer, since he is trapped in his own room now. Balling his fists, Papyrus inhales. “I saw you the other night Red.” Red freezes in his space and doesn’t look back.

“That night you saved me, something happened that night that you haven’t told anybody, and I’m willing to bet that the large creature that pulled that kid off of me, was you” Papyrus takes another deep breath, he isn’t finished. “I’m willing to bet everything I have left that whatever it was, was in fact, _you_!” The tall skeleton waits again. “Last week during the storm, I saw you. You ripped the back of the couch open with your hands. I know now for sure that the monster is you.”

              Red finally looks back. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He blinks and is clearly shaking. The jig is up. Time to deny everything. That only makes Papyrus more annoyed.

              “Quit trying to deny everything! It’s not good for you.” Papyrus injects.

              “That’s insane. Monsters can’t shape shift.” Red returns, clearly lying. Just look at him!

              “I’m accepting you Red! You don’t have to hide it from me.” Younger sibling determination be damned.

              “Still don’t know what you are talking about.” Oldest sibling stubbornness is in maxim effect.

              “Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass Red?! I want to work with you! Why can’t you see that?” Papyrus places a foot over the threshold of the door. Oh he just cussed. It seems like somebody is getting mad.

              “Because there is nothing wrong with me!” Red finally snaps. His legendary temper builds again. “I don’t have this hidden power and even if I did, don’t you think that there is some reason as to why I would hide it?” More yelling and his eye completely blazes in the side of his skull, but he still manages to talk correctly. “Didn’t you think for a moment that there is a reason behind why I haven’t said anything? Why I keep denying everything?” Taking a much needed breather, Red bores into Papyrus’ head with his stare. He snaps his long teeth closed.

              “It’s because I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to know that I have this issue and I was perfectly happy withholding it from you, but fucking Undyne is trying to tear us apart. I’ve done nothing to deserve any of this, and now I’m having issues controlling myself!” Red breathes hard. It takes a moment to process what he just said in his own head, but he just unwillingly admitted everything that Papyrus has been talking about. Papyrus finally walks into this dark room. Red, of course, gets angrier and fumes.

              “Don’t you fucking get it?! I don’t want to hurt you! I care about you, almost as much as I cared about my own brother.” Red cracks. Tears streak down his face again as he slurs.  Papyrus steps closer, which causes Red to back up into his wall, forcing him into a corner, getting trapped in his own room.

              “I have to use every ounce of magic that I have left just to keep myself in check. Otherwise, it’s not going to be pretty.” Red finishes by pressing himself, back first, into the wall and crosses his arms on his chest, holding the pointed parts out in defense. Papyrus gets closer still, closing the gap between the two.

              “I don’t think you will hurt me. I don’t think you want to hurt anybody and none of this is fair to you.” Papyrus is almost there. Red darts his eyes around, looking for a way out.

              “W-what do you know? If you saw how large I was, imagine that pointed at you. You only saw a fraction of my size the night of the storm.” Chattering hard, Red finds an opening and tries to dash away, only to be caught by Papyrus in a hug. The stocky skeleton just gives up, his magic buzzes under his roommate’s touch. Papyrus, of course, can feel this but doesn’t let off. Instead, he just rubs the back of Red’ skull. Feeling up all the nubs that have seemed to raise. Red doesn’t move. He just allows this and goes limp in Papyrus’ arms. He gives up. Everything he has worked for is gone. Soon Papyrus will be too and he will be alone. It’s only a matter of time now and Red can’t take the heart ache again.

              Instead, Papyrus drags Red over to his bed and places him down. Then, using all of his strength, the taller skeleton drapes Red over his body and holds him in place in a large hug. A very similar tactic on what he used to use on his own brother when he was having a bad day, only this time, this skeleton is a lot heavier than what he is used too. He continues to rub his roommate’s back, feeling up vertebra that have seemed to lift up, tail that was once drooped has finally started to wiggle again. The silence is going to be forced to end. Red wiggles in the grasp but Papyrus doesn’t let him move.

              “What is her issue with _me_? I lost my job because of her.” Red slurs again, harder than before. Papyrus just shrugs. He doesn’t know. But it’s clear that our heavy skeleton is trying everything to hold it together. Papyrus can feel the vertebra poke up more, tail flick harder. Whatever Red is, it’s pretty sharp.

              “I don’t care what Undyne says, you are not this horrible monster. I just know you aren’t.” Trying to reassure Red is hard but Papyrus knows he can do it. The one in his arms just growls.

              “What do you know about me?” Red croaks. It seems like Papyrus isn’t going to let this go without a fight. Red tries to push his way out of Papyrus’ grasp but the other holds strong.

              “I don’t know much about the world that you come from, all I can tell is that it’s a dangerous and harsh place.” Papyrus rubs Red’ back, who just falls limp in the grasp.

              “If that’s true, then why did you agree to live with me?” The limp noodle that is Red asks, tail flicks from behind.

              “Because, just like you, I needed somebody at the time, and I was kinda in threat of going back underground. So I chose to live with you. Big deal.” Papyrus shrugs. He then smiles again. “Like it or not, things aren’t that different after all. You share so many mannerisms with my brother that it hurts, and I’m sure that I remind you of your own bother at times too.” That was deep Papyrus, and Red doesn’t speak. Instead, he regains his composure and pushes away from Papyrus, sitting alone on the other end of the bed, glaring at his roommate.

              “Yeah, and from what I was so gleefully told, you are moving out. So what’s the point of this conversation? I’m just wasting breath and I’m going to be alone again. So no point.” Crimson glows on Red’ face. Angry tears beads in his sockets as he forces himself back down from the internal boiling anger, magic crackling, tail curling up in defense. This makes Papyrus shudder but he stays put on the bed.

              “I don’t understand why you keep fighting with me. You have a different type of magic and I’m willing to work with it, but yet you keep fighting me.” This keeps going around and around. This time, Papyrus is going to end this peacefully, but wow does this seem familiar.

              “There is nothing different about me. I’m just me.” Shrugging hard, Red looks away. He is totally defeated and that bothers Papyrus.

              Papyrus just lets out a sigh and shakes his head. “If you don’t want to talk, I’m not going to force you. Just when you are ready, tell me, okay?” Papyrus gets up off the bed to walk out of the room. Red forces his comforter over his head and curls up with it on. It gets caught on the bumps on his skull. The taller skeleton pauses for a moment and looks back. He looks excited and smiles.

              “Oh! And I’m not moving out. I don’t know where she got that from but I don’t walk away from problems, and it’s even double when it’s somebody I care deeply about! After all, you saved me, and that’s what people do when they care.” Papyrus smiles wider. He wants it to become a normal day again, no more fighting. Just two monsters living together. Red almost smiles, but being the way he is, it seems like there is one more thing for him to say. He just sighs deeply.

              “You still don’t get it, do you?! If I start to lose control of my emotions, I _will_ lash out. I _will_ hurt you. Up until now, you were basically my best friend. Now, I don’t trust myself with you. I’m afraid that I’m going to hurt you. I really like you Papyrus.” Red pauses to gather his thoughts.

              “I’m afraid that I’m going to hurt you one day and I’m going to be forced to leave. You were alone, I was alone. Our lives have been nothing but a comedy of errors. I just don’t want to go. I don’t want to restart. I want to stay in your life but Undyne keeps trying to ruin it, forcing me out. It’s almost like she wants… me… to…” Red pauses mid-sentence. His sockets widen and a single eye glows brightly in his socket. That thought hit him like a train. Almost at once, his face starts to split apart more and Papyrus backs up in fear.

              “ ** _THAT FISH BITCH!_** ” Red’s voice echoes, getting deeper. He just figured it out. Papyrus looks on in confusion. “What?”

              “She is trying to get me to hurt you. I got arrested for ‘domestic abuse’ and half of the city believes I’m this horrible person, and if I lash out now, I’m going to be put away forever. That _bitch._ ” Growling hard, Red angrily explains. It makes perfect sense!

              Slowly, Red gets up off the bed. There is a look of murder deep within his sockets. He still has the comforter on his body but that doesn’t matter. Something deep down in his soul snaps and he beings to shift under that comforter. He starts to reach Papyrus’ height and goes to push past him. Red has a fish to fry, steam follows along with it, tail flicking along the floor. The life he tried to build here is over anyway, might as well take a few others with him. _Show them what a real monster looks like._

              During this time, Papyrus tries to stop him by pushing on his shoulders, to slow him down. His hands move down to his roommate’s arms due to his growing size under the comforter and the figure just pushes the now smaller skeleton out of the way. A slight feeling of rage enters the room and rolls off of Red in waves.

              Each step the now completely livid roommate takes, the taller he gets. Clothes rip and a long tail slinks out from underneath the comforter as Red makes his way to his door frame. He drops the blanket and Papyrus can finally see what his nightmares have proven in the past, and it’s horrifying, along with the rage, building ever more.

              Now towering a good two heads over the former taller skeleton, and threating to become larger, Red has to duck to get through his door way, using massive claws to pull himself out of his room. A once nice shirt splits open down the back and sleeves, shorts getting tight. His steps creak along the floorboards in the tiny hall and his much longer toe claws scrap along on the hardwood floor. Papyrus’ pleads get ignored by the now livid living nightmare. Nasty spikes and ridges grow off Red. His skull points out into a sinister muzzle, more bumps push up and small ridges become horns on the sides of his head. An audible crack spreads across his face as a twisted smile grows high on his cheeks, along with a jagged split up his nose and bottom jaw, causing it to bisect, along with a floating jaw hinge. Below his brow line, a second set of eyes open and glow bright. More bones snap and bend, Red finally looks back at Papyrus with four beady little eyes, who seems to be holding onto the long tail that jumped out of his roommates back. A deep dark rumble vibrates out of the demons ribs at the sight of Papyrus trying to hold on.

              “Let go.” A steamy hiss rolls out of Red’s much longer teeth. Papyrus just shakes his head no. Orange tinted magic flushes it’s self across the smaller skeletons face. He is holding on with all his strength, and is being pulled across the apartment.

              “Please stop. It’s not worth it!” Papyrus holds on with dear life, pleading like his world might end. It seems like Red has stopped himself for now, he doesn’t match the size a groggy Papyrus witnessed the night he as saved. Tears prick at the sides of his sockets.

              “Let go Papyrus. There is something I have to do.” More rumbling emits for Red, his voice much deeper than before. Papyrus still continues to hold on.

              “I know you hate her, but please, it’s not worth it! She is still my friend and you are too. I’m tired of all of this. I’ll go talk with her later. Just please stop!” Papyrus is now grossly sobbing. He loves both of them. “I’ll tell her that she has to get her act together and leave you alone. No more! I just want it to go back to normal!”

              The half demon watches Papyrus plead with him and his soul drops. He whimpers just as hard and realizes what he has just done. Deciding that it’s just better to lay down, Red claims the spot on the floor where he stands in the living room and allows Papyrus to hold onto his tail. His sockets are squeezed tight, as the fear is clear. Papyrus is now terrified of Red, and it makes the demon’s soul shatter at the sight.

              “I’m sorry Paps. This… this is what happens when I lose control of my emotions. I’m so sorry you had to see this.” There is no way Red can comprehend the emotion pumping through his roommate’s bones. He just covers his eyes with his hands, full of regret. The amount of emotion he has been holding in for the past few weeks finally bubbled over and Red couldn’t handle it anymore. Both linger in their respective spots for a few moments. Papyrus finally drops the tail and backs up with his hands in his face. Red has to concentrate hard to start to even think about changing back. Emotions still bubbling up deep down, but he pushes those to the side for Papyrus. Red sits there and thinks. There is an odor of ketchup in the room and Red picks up on it.

              Eventually after some time, and some soft snapping of bone, Red shifts right back down to a normal size and hobbles over to Papyrus, who doesn’t even look up. The now shorter skeleton just pulls his roommate into his arms and rubs his back in a loving fashion. He manages to think back to all those times where he had to stay up late with Papyrus or when he had to show him support when he needed it the most. A single thought pops into his skull.

              ‘ _Undyne was never there. She was never there for Papyrus and it was up to me to pick up all the pieces, and she knows that.’_

              Papyrus doesn’t push away, he just stays in Red’ arms, who takes a rare moment and presses his face into a small nook in-between his shoulder and neck. A nuzzle is the best thing Red can offer to Papyrus right now, his own voice is too tight to speak, tail softly moving behind him. They stand like that for a while, sobs echo in the room.

              “I’m so sorry you had to see that.” Red breaks the silence. “I know I have anger issues. You didn’t see it but when I first got here, I sought help. I forced myself to attend anger management classes because I knew _that_ could happen.” Red explains, trying to claim Papyrus down, who is still in his arms. There is no response and it worries Red. He ushers Papyrus over to the couch and has him sit, still sobbing in his hands. The Red that Papyrus got to know is a much tamer version of himself from before.

              “Look, I’m normal now. There is no need to cry anymore.” Red pushes his hands under Papyrus’, trying to wipe away tears, voice soft. Finally Papyrus opens his sockets and look up, and much to Red’ relief, he doesn’t panic at the touch. He offers a small smile, and for a moment, Papyrus can see his own brother in this skeleton. His face looks warm and welcoming, not beat down and tired.

              “Brother…?” Papyrus whispers. Red looks on with confusion. What? This is awkward and Red can’t handle it. The smell of ketchup gets stronger. The short skeleton gets up and takes a step back, shaking his head. No more, he can’t do this. If this gets fucked up, he can’t handle the heartache again, and neither will the town. Papyrus gets upset watching Red back away from him and orange dances across his face, similar magic crackling along his fingers. It seems like he hasn’t changed.

              “I can’t do it again. I can’t.” Red whimpers. Papyrus stands up and faces him.

              “Do what Red?” Papyrus pushes. Red looks away.

              “I can’t. I CAN’T LOSE ANOTHER. No more.” Red whimpers harder. Papyrus takes a step closer to Red and grabs onto his arm.

              “Nothing is going to happen. I promise, I’m going to talk to Undyne and get this to end. I’ll talk to her later and see if she isn’t too busy.” Papyrus explains his plan. This is killing his roommate, and like a good friend, he is going to put an end to it. “But you need to promise me one thing: Stay away from Undyne.” Squinting hard and staring into the stocky skeletons sockets, Papyrus asks Red, who still hasn’t looked up. He lets go of his roommates arms and grabs his skull, making eye contact connect. “I saw the look. Swear to me that you aren’t going to do anything rash.” Still squinting at Red, Papyrus almost growls at him. The trust is still thin, but it’s a start. Red just nods, while keeping eye contact, tail down on his leg. Little brother determination be damned after all as a thin smile turns back on Papyrus’ face. He nods and let’s go.

              “I’ve got to go, but I’m glad we got this figured out.” Papyrus speaks, almost cheerful. Turns out, he made afternoon plans with Undyne, along with Alphys but this is something to talk about in private, and he thinks Frisk is going to be there. He doesn’t remember, but he is always welcome. Red just nods and slinks away, depressed like normal.

              “I’ll be here I guess. Maybe disappear into the woods again.” Head down low, Red shuffles over to the very beat up old couch and flops over onto it. Energy is depleted.

A thought pops into Papyrus skull. He almost lights up. “When you go off at night, is that because you can’t sleep or are you running around?” Standing over Red, who loafs out on the couch, bending over the back support with a head propped on hands, Papyrus smiles. This is a new thing and seems exciting. Red lifts up off the couch and looks at a smiling Papyrus, confusion takes over his face.

“Both really. Why?” Suspicion takes over Red’s mind. Papyrus closes his sockets, furthering widening his smile. “Just wondering.” Uh hum. Sure. That’s not suspicious at all, when not a while ago, Red was sure that if Papyrus could, he would have wet himself. He just rolls his eyes at his roommate’s enthusiasm and stays in the room, picking up more on the strange energy force in the room.

Deep down the hall, in a bedroom, a cellphone rings. Papyrus taps his pocks and looks over to Red. He lets out a scoff and gets up.

“Go do your thing, I’ll just be here.” Red departs down the hall, leaving Papyrus alone. It seems like he made it in time, says a greeting and then silence. Papyrus chuckles and turns to leave the apartment. That was a fun afternoon. Red stays in his room.

 

* * *

 

 

A good outing was had, along with a much needed trip out alone, Papyrus finally works his way back over to shared apartment. It’s rolling over into late evening as the tall skeleton comes up to his building. There is normal evening activity, along with a few ambulances screaming down the street. Nighttime here as always lively.

Entering the building in a great mood for once in a long while, Papyrus bounds up three flights of stairs and gets to the first door on right in the hall. He unlocks his door and enters. It’s dark inside, Red must be out. Oh well. Papyrus did achieve a few goals today, one of which involved talking to Undyne alone for a bit. Frisk did join them and brought alone some baked goods from Toriel, which where amazing. Papyrus even brought back a few for Red, though he didn’t tell anybody that he had contact with his roommate. That might have ended badly. Undyne had to go home with Frisk early. She wasn’t feeling too well, something about all the stress getting to her. The lazy bones must still be out, so Papyrus decides to put something together for dinner. It’s simple and quick. Left overs are the best thing ever.

The TV clicks on by itself and Papyrus would have jumped out of his bones if he didn’t know about the other tenet in the apartment. Sitting at the dining room table, he just says a greeting and finishes the lukewarm dinner. The microwave strikes again and doesn’t heat the food all the way, but it’s better than nothing. The TV skips channels, almost in a conversational attempt. It pops over onto the comedy channel, which catches Papyrus’ attention. That’s a first. Deciding to humor it, Papyrus goes to the couch after washing his plate off and sits. A comedy medical show? What?

More time passes and it goes into late night comedy, the lineup isn’t very good. Papyrus just gets up and searches for the remote to turn off the TV. Red isn’t back yet and that worries him a little. Not as much as the loud pound from the front door.

Confused looks and rattled bones, Papyrus steps over to the door. He looks back at the clock on the stove, it reads 11:07pm. The pound sounds again and a slight light flickers under the door, Papyrus finally opens the entryway. It’s Grillby?

Flames crackling hard, and huffing just as bad, Grillby stands in the doorway, lighting up the hall. Hot air surrounds him, and it prickles Papyrus’ bones “Where is he?” Very soft spoken and his voice crackles. Poor Papyrus has to back up due to the heat. Grillby stands in the doorway. “Where is Red, Papyrus?” He asked again. The tall skeleton is completely lost for words.

“Um, not home.” Forcing himself back to the real world, Papyrus ushers Grillby inside the apartment. He quickly enters, completely flustered in the face and looks around. Already, his flames take purple tint, making the air around him warmer that it should be. Whatever is going on, it seems like Grillby is trying to keep his cool.

“What’s this about?” Afraid of the answer, Papyrus asks. Grillby slowly turns to look at him, having to step back to ensure he doesn’t burn the skeleton. He crackles with worry. “Undyne is in the ICU and is covered in slashes and burns.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that happen. Hehehe. Guess I can't be secretive now. HEH.


	16. Chummed Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions raise again, this time its hitting its max limit for our poor skeleton Papyrus. Red is nowhere to be seen. It seems like Grillby knows something and Frisk the brat is at it again.

              It was a good evening for a tall skeleton, until a late night visitor stops by. One could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Magic crackles in the air as both inhabits in the small room bristle. Papyrus is dumb-struck, and Grillby looks like he ran over from work, still a little messy, clothes have grease on them.

              “What?” Papyrus cannot even process what he has just heard. Undyne is in the hospital? _What?_ By the look that Grillby gives him, it must be true. Turning to look away and pace, Papyrus rubs his temples.

              “You are telling me that _Red_ did this?” Betrayal buries itself deep in the tall skeleton’s skull voice as he paces around the living room. Red promised! He promised that he wouldn’t do anything rash!

              “Her injuries point to Red, yes, and the fact that he was the last person to have a personal vendetta against her, others are pointing fingers.” Grillby crackles. Tugging at his work uniform his flames flicker and swirl, air around him still hot.

              “Any idea where he is now?” Papyrus asks. Grillby smacks his head with the palm of his hand. “That’s why I came to you.” His tone is stern. Papyrus makes eye contact with Grillby and furrows his brow line, orange magic crackles out of his sockets.

              “The apartment was dark when I got home, which was a few hours ago.” Anger builds in the skeleton. “He swore to me that he wouldn’t do anything rash!” Grinding his blunt teeth, Papyrus growls. A cocktail of emotions flood his soul.

              “You talked to him?” Grillby asks. Papyrus freezes for a moment. “How was he? He sounded defeated.” Grillby presses. Papyrus looks around, making sure the front door is closed all the way. He steps closer and looks deep in Grillby’s glasses.

              “I don’t know if I should tell you that I did, but yes. We had… an interesting conversation.” A bead of sweat drops down Papyrus’ skull, his fingers twitch. Interesting indeed. Grillby smiles. HE SMILES. This confuses Papyrus to the point where he takes a step back. The flame elemental looks relieved.

              “Wait, you aren’t mad at him?” Papyrus has to ask. He blinks waiting on Grillby, whose smile widens more.

              “Heavens no. I know it wasn’t him that hurt Undyne.” Grillby explains in a cheerful voice. Papyrus does not believe this. He didn’t see the look of murder on the stocky skeletons face. It still makes the tall skeleton’s marrow boil.

              “How could you be so sure of that? You didn’t see the look of murder in his eyes! He was ready to kill her. I somehow convinced him not too, only for him to betray me!” Papyrus huffs. It _was_ him. Grillby shakes his head. “No Papyrus, it wasn’t him. Trust me.” He tries to reassure the skeleton, who just takes his turn and shakes his own head.

              “My patience with him is running very low. I’m not even sure if I can talk to him when I see him again.” More magic crackles around Papyrus as he walks past Grillby, pacing down the hall and back into the living room. The fire elemental just watches the tall skeleton pace. Nothing he can really do now.

              “I came to offer Red a safe place. I now know for a fact it wasn’t him that did this.” Grillby adds. Papyrus doesn’t stop pacing around, it’s like he has a constant need to move and his legs travel on their own. The livid skeleton doesn’t react. This mindless act goes on for a while, pacing back and forth in the living room/hall area. Long enough for Grillby to cool down and for Papyrus to get tired enough to sit. He sits with his elbows on his knees, fingers still rubbing his temples.

              “What are her injuries?” Papyrus gets right to the point and asks about his friend. Grillby joins him on the couch. The skeleton leans in, preparing for the worst.

              “Last I heard, she is asleep. Her hands and face are covered in burns. It turns out, Frisk was there and saw everything. He told Toriel that it was Red who attacked Undyne and she came to me. I told her I would look for his address and contact her after. That was an hour ago. The Queen also said something about you coming to stay with her? For your safety.” Grillby crackles, both hands in his apron pockets. It takes Papyrus a moment to take in everything that his guest tells him. His eyes blaze orange. It’s the only thing he can do. Maybe there is a way to find Red? Wait!

              Shoving his hands into his own pockets, Papyrus digs for his phone. Grillby watches from his position on the couch. Skeleton fingers move quickly over the device’s screen and in no time, the phone is up to where his ear would be.

              There is a paused, followed by ringing down the hall. Papyrus almost throws his phone in a fit of anger, but instead, he grabs the sides of his skull. “Oh of course he left his phone!” The skeleton gives out a shriek. Grillby leans back on the couch, watching his host rip at his invisible hair, dark eye sockets bug out into white eyeballs with pupil pricks.

              There is a lot of flustered ‘Nyehing’ and skull tapping. Papyrus just wants this to end. Why does everything have to be so difficult?!

              “Where would Red go? It’s night time! He has nowhere to be and now he is nowhere to be seen.” Papyrus rambles. He tries to get the cogs in his brain moving and pays no attention to Grillby, who seems to be on his own phone. Checking it time to time. The two discuss options on where Red would be. Papyrus often referring to Red’ preference of going to the park at night, talking about how sometimes he would get up in the morning and there would be a small pile of damp clothes in the bathroom, until another brisk knock sounds on his door kicking both monsters out of their discussion. Grillby gets up to let the new comer in, which seems to be Toriel, while carrying Frisk in her arms. He is pretty scratched up as well.

              Toriel has literal fire in her eyes, Frisk looks… off. He looks like this is the funniest thing in the world, smiling like a mad man. Papyrus doesn’t question it, instead, Toriel has to take a deep breath to relax.

              “Papyrus, dear, you are going to pack your bag and you are going to spend a few more days with me. I fear for your safety.” Toriel requests, no, she demands in a soft voice.

              “I understand. I fear for my own at the moment as well.” Papyrus agrees without putting up a fight. A sigh escapes his teeth, this was a good thing up until the end. Red is just too dangerous, with his other form and all. Without another word, Papyrus gets up from the couch and turns to leave the living room making a brisk walk down the hall to his room, Frisk follows behind, deciding to join his friend.

              “Can’t you locate him? His phone maybe?” Frisk asks. Papyrus sighs again. He walks over to the tiny closet, searching for a suit case.

              “I tried his phone. I can either wait for him to return, Merciful Angel knows how long that might be, or if I had some of his magic, I could find him.” Moving throughout his room, the skeleton gathers a few sets of pants and socks. He takes a lot of care and folds them neatly, making sure not to get any wrinkles in his pants. It’s a nervous tick to make sure everything is perfectly placed in the suit case. Next are the shirts.

              “Would he have any of his brother’s dust? There’s magic in that, right?” Frisk suggests. Papyrus looks horrified, mouth agape looking down at the child.

              “No, I can’t touch his brother’s dust. He isn’t my family and that is so wrong to do! How could you think of something like that?! I could do it if he had his brother’s magic, but not his dust!” The nerve of this kid! What has gotten into him? Defiling another’s dust. Frisk just shrugs in return at Papyrus’ comment.

              “It was an idea. Hey! I can go and check his room for something. Yeah!” Frisk is out of the room before Papyrus has a chance to react. An exasperated ‘Nyeh’ is all Papyrus can say as he gathers a few shirts off his hangers in the closet, gently folding them into place. What’s gotten into Frisk?

              In Red’s room, Frisk looks around after opening his door. It’s messy in here, with a bunch of items on his bed. Something calls to Frisk, deep in his chest. He searches around, high and low, trying to pin point this odd feeling. He can hear chatter outside of the room, but he has a task at hand.

              Sitting in a drawer, right next to Red’ bed, sits a small vial. Frisk finds this vial and it glows a deep red as he plucks it out of the drawer. Something about this is familiar. He tries to think, looking it over. It’s just a glass vial full of magic, but it has a piece of tape on the side that has ‘Papyrus’ scribbled on it. The tape is old and warn, starting to peel away. Using his nail, Frisk peels the tape off, to reveal etched writing on the side… Subject WD-P2. This is odd, never seen this before. He holds it up to his face. The liquid doesn’t move as it pulses in the vial.

              “What did you find?” Papyrus walks in the room, interrupting Frisk out of his thoughts. He almost drops the vial, being startled by the taller skeleton.

              “Um, I found this. I think it’s magic.” Frisk holds it up. Papyrus squints and walks over. It can’t be that easy, no. Red is going to be pissed that these two are in his room uninvited, but they need to find him. Get his side of this crazy story.

              “Hum, I don’t know. We can take it to Alphys to get it analyzed. Just to be sure.” Papyrus is unsure about this. It doesn’t sit right to him. “Come on, let’s go back to the others.” Bag in hand, Papyrus reaches out for Frisk, who takes his hand as they walk down the tiny hall together.

              They return to Grillby and Toriel, both are sitting on the couch not talking anymore. A very tired Toriel perks up at the sight of her boys, giving the signal that it’s time to leave.

              “I found something Momma! I think it’s magical.” Frisk walks up, holding out the vial. She takes it from him, examining it herself. It glows in her hands, pulsing. She turns it around, looking over it.

              “I don’t know what this is honey, maybe we can take it to Alphys? She might know.” Forcing a smile, Toriel blinks. Frisk crosses his arms in a huff.

              “Maybe we can get Papyrus to use it? It’s just a small amount, it can’t hurt him.” Frisk suggests. Papyrus questions it, Toriel shakes her head.

              “No, that’s not a good idea honey. We should take it to Alphys.” Toriel says, stern in her words.

              “It might not hurt if it’s a little.” Papyrus offers. It’s the best they have or he can try to head over to the park like he planned before. He knows that Red likes to hang out there and maybe that is where he is and not in some bar, hopefully. That would be a sight, out there getting drunk after his successful attack.

              “Papyrus! That’s not safe. You don’t know what that is.” Toriel scolds. “Don’t take the chance. We don’t need you dusting too. I care very much about you dear, don’t do this. I’m sure our good doctor has something that can track him if this is magic from his brother.”

              “It had a label on it that says ‘Papyrus.’” Frisk holds up the peeled off sticker. The old and worn label curled and stuck to his finger.

              “That’s a bad idea hon, you don’t know what this is.” Toriel goes to take the vial from Frisk, trying to protect Papyrus, but the skeleton gets to it first. He is determined to find Red no matter what.

              “It can’t hurt.” The tall skeleton suggests taking the object and lifting the vial up high just out of reach. It starts to react in his hands, glowing even more.

              Grillby studies the vial from afar. He has seen this before and is trying to rack his tired mind for what it could be. He taps a flaming finger to his cheeks.

              It’s like Papyrus can’t help himself. He stares at the vial in a hungry trance, taking a moment to try to pry the lid off. It’s on there good, and Papyrus looks down at it tempted to try and bite it off. It’s like the magic starts to lean in to him, moving closer in the vial. The lid is on tight and Papyrus continues to fight to get it off.

              About that time, Grillby comes up off the couch in a flash, taking the vial from Papyrus.

              “Don’t open it!” The fire elemental gives a steamy hiss, flames cackling. “Red told me about this and that it’s nothing to play with. Don’t tempt fate.”

              “What is that stuff?” Papyrus gives off a little yelp at the surprise. Toriel burns a little hotter, holding Frisk close.

              “I think he told me it’s ‘Determination’. If he took it, it would give him a power boost. I don’t want to imagine what it would do to you Papyrus. You have some of his magic in you from when he saved you, angel above knows how you would react to it.” Grillby crackles with worry. He pockets the vial, keeping it out of sight.

              Frisk crosses his arms in a huff, Toriel holds her child close, Papyrus sighs and Grillby shakes his head. Too close. Who knows what would have happened. The flame element doesn’t feel safe with this vial in his pocket so he walks down to Red room to hide it again, hoping he isn’t followed. He has seen Red when he is shifted and angry, he also knows damn well he can get away with this. That interaction was strange but somehow it worked, and something about Red calling Grillby ‘father’ in dog language.

              Returning to the living room, Grillby decides to block the hall as a just in case, standing in the way, leaning on a wall. Right then Papyrus decides to head out with Toriel and Frisk. It’s still dark out so none of the other tenants are in the hall to watch the crew depart.

              Papyrus lingers to lock up behind the group, Toriel ushers Frisk out of the apartment, with Grillby in the middle. They head out in silence. Papyrus has his suitcase in hand, and departs down the stairs. Three flights down and out the front door, the crew departs the building. Grillby lights up the way, traveling and hoping that he can intercept Red before anybody else, but the trip has come to an end for this old elemental. He needs to return to work and departs from the group when he can.

              That leaves the others alone after saying farewells to Grillby. Frisk still has his arms crossed, scratching his cuts from earlier. Toriel fusses over her child, telling him not to irritate his wounds and the tall skeleton gets an idea. Maybe he can break free.

              “Toriel, I’m still pretty stressed out. Mind if I stretch my legs and walk around after I drop my belongings off?” Papyrus askes. He crosses his fingers in his mind, praying she agrees. It shouldn’t matter what she says but right now, she is his child again and she wants him to be safe. Last time it was when his own brother died, the queen took him in for a few days and had regular visits to keep him healthy.

              “Alright dear, as long as you are back by, let’s say, 12:30? Yes. That should be patella of enough time to stretch your leg bones.” Toriel nods in approval, a small smile on her face. Perfect! That will give Papyrus plenty of time to head down to the park to locate Red. He wrinkles his nose at the attempt in humor, smiling along but deep down, he just hopes he can keep a level skull. Just thinking about his soon to be ex-roommate makes his marrow boil. The things he is going to say to that fat skeleton, it just stings his mouth thinking about it.

It’s not that long of a walk but the trio make it back over to Toriel’s townhouse. Most of the lights are off along the row of homes that the group all walk up to the steps of. Toriel unlocks the door, allows for her child and skeleton to pass and shuts the door. Papyrus heads back over to reclaim his spot on the couch, seeing that there is already a pillow and blanket waiting on him. How thoughtful, she already had it planned. Setting his stuff down to the side, Frisk darts past and heads into his room, closing the door. Toriel yells at him for not saying ‘excuse me’ before darting past Papyrus so suddenly. Silly kids. The queen then strides over to Papyrus and looks him right in the sockets, handing him the keys, cupping his hands in her large paws.

“Papyrus, I want you to know you are safe here. He can’t hurt you any longer. Everybody involved is getting hurt. Asgore and I are willing to bet you are next.” Our goat mother looks serious. That statement causes light orange pricks to bead on the sides of the skeletons sockets. Tears threaten to roll down his cheeks but Papyrus wipes them away. He smiles, nodding, then hugs one of the only other people that has shown him true kindness during this whole ordeal. However, one thing is true, Papyrus is going to talk to Red if it kills him.

About that time, a very sleepy Asgore appears. He has a fluffy buns shirt on and flannel pants. A large yawn stretches across his face.

“Papyrus.” Another yawn. “How are you doing?” The king greets him in a deep tired voice. He rubs his eyes and blinks, trying to focus. Papyrus turns to face the larger goat and does a slight bow.

“I’m as good as I ever will be.” It’s not far from the truth, after having his soul crushed, again, by his roommate. “Any word on Undyne?” Papyrus askes, hoping for anything.

“Right now, there is a tube in her throat and she is peppered with burns and cuts. They think she inhaled some hot air from where the area around her mouth is burned and her arms are sliced up pretty badly. Her webbing is cut up pretty badly, but the doctors say she will make it.” Asgore drones off. He shakes his head again, this time standing tall, more awake than he was a moment ago. It’s odd, but for somebody that Toriel ran away from, she sure did allow her ex-husband back into her life pretty quickly. Papyrus thought she was going to get a home with his brother. Oh well, best not to dwell on it, these two did help him out of his self-destructive depression spiral.

However, thinking about Undyne ignites a fire in Papyrus soul. He shakes with rage, he is going to find his roommate, not even able to call him Red anymore in his head. The skeleton speaks with a shaky voice.

“Thank you. If it’s no issue to you, I’m going to take that walk now. I’ll be back soon.” Rubbing his sockets and trying to keep a calm voice, Papyrus turns to depart. Toriel stops him for a moment, putting a warm paw on his shoulder.

“Don’t try to find Red. He is dangerous. Frisk said that he watched him appear out of nowhere and attack Undyne. He mumbled something about ending all this pain.” The queen talks with a soft voice. Papyrus nods in response.

“As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t deserve to be called Red anymore. He is truly a monster and I should have listened to Undyne months ago. Otherwise, she would still be okay.” With a huff, Papyrus breaks free and walks outside into the crisp night time air. He locks the door behind him and bounces down the stairs. This tall skeleton can handle himself. He knows he can counter Red and nothing is going to stop him from finding his roommate. Breaking into a sprint, Papyrus uses his long legs to carry himself over to the park. He has a serious bone to pick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. I've had some heath issues and convention prep, but I never stopped thinking about it. I really want to produce a good chapter, this time its a slow one but I promise, the next will be much faster. 
> 
> Hellish even...
> 
> Heh heh.....


	17. Nightmare Scenario

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's as it says. Shit has gone south... and will the skeleton brothers be able to handle their greatest threat? Emotion????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOO, here it is. Something i've been wanting to do since i figured out that my fell sans was a gaster blaster monster... LE GASP DID I SPOIL IT???? AHAHHAAHAH

              It’s night time. The air is cold and sharp. This town is strangely active for the time of day, with friends and family alike enjoying the crisp air. Streets busy with laughter and chatter as an odd group moves through. They are quiet and stoic, trying to remain calm from the infectious energy in the air. The skeleton of our group cracks a small smile, but it returns to a frown when he remembers his task. Within the group stands a fire elemental. They come up to a row of businesses still active late into the evening and this elemental wave’s goodbye and departs. He’s depressed he has to leave, but there is business to attend to.

After departing from the group, Grillby walks over to his own restaurant, heading in through the front door. It’s still busy inside and he is greeted by co-workers and regulars on his return. Tonight, the elemental simply walks past his patrons and heads right to his office, lost in thought. He really hopes that his friend Red didn’t do this and that the skeleton will come out of hiding. Taking a seat and busying himself with paper work, Grillby loses himself back to when they first encountered each other.

Back when they first met, this red Sans would stay covered as best as he could to sit at the bar, hiding his face and hands. It wasn’t hard to tell he is a skeleton but the secrecy made Grillby nervous, until one day there was a ‘Help Wanted’ poster on the front door.

              This crimson skeleton had quite a bit to drink that night too. Maybe it was to gather his courage to ask, as whisky’s other name ‘liquid spirits’ did come into play there, but this skeleton just asked about the position. He calmly explained that he just moved in and would like a job so he had something to do. Grillby could see a crimson orb looking at him from under that black hoodie when he talked to him, along with really sharp teeth and a reflected glittering golden tooth. They chatted for a while, trying to get the skeleton's qualifications, as he just explained that he used to be a part of a science team so he could really do anything, and one thing lead to another. Grillby finally asked him to remove his hood so he can see his face, his friend warned him about his appearance. Grillby, of course was confused about the comment, until his friend took the hoodie down, asking for the position a second time. The fire elemental’s jaw dropped. He had to remove his glasses to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, blinking a few times.

 

              It took him a solid minute for a response, which made this red Sans angrily turn to leave.

_“Figures. You’re just like everybody else. This was a mistake.”_

              The elemental had to catch the livid skeleton at his front door and agreed to the employment. It’s not the same person, right? He just looks the same oddly enough, but Grillby was wrong as he learned over time. This skeleton was almost the same, albeit much harsher and fowl, but it _was_ Sans. That sure was a long adjustment period, seeing a corrupted reflection of a lost friend.

              Over time, they grew close after working together. Grillby got to watch Red turn into the monster he is now, even more so after a few rounds of anger management and drunk episodes where he would blabber on about home, insulting this weaker world. It seems like this Red had a slight alcohol problem, and after a certain random roof cave during the first month at the bar, these two became buddies.

              ‘ _The roof creaked and moaned as the pouring summer rain fell. The only two inhabits of Grillby’s are still inside, cleaning up together after a long day. The owner, who goes by the same name, and his newest employee, Red, worked in silence, picking up chairs, using buckets to collect water from the leaking roof._

_Having to close early due to the water, Grillby has to try to figure out how to allocate enough money to pay for a new roof. Red rotates buckets, hoping for this storm to end soon. It’s his first month on the surface and this evening thunderstorm has him on edge, not quite used to the sound and flashing yet. Each crash makes his magic crackle, causing the skeleton to shiver. Grillby just reassures him by staying close and helping. The poor fire elemental has to wear a waterproof jacket and elbow high gloves to stay in his own store without pain, along with long rubber boots to stop the water from soaking his pants, steam filling the air from evaporating water._

_As the evening goes on, the duo work to try to keep the restaurant from flooding. The roof moans harder and thunder rolls its drums outside, shaking the building with low rumbles. That causes internal structural supports to shimmy and shake, rubbing on soaked weak wood. The metal holding the roof struts fail, ripping away from the wood and the roof section over the bar begins to collapse, coming down on the lingering fire elemental. He lets out a steamy shriek as the roof falls, fearing the worst, getting snuffed out by the debris and water, but it doesn’t hit him. Water patters on his head, causing steam to raise off his coat and he looks up to something big. He lets out another shriek, terrified at a monster type he has never seen before. It looks to be a very large bone demon, four beady eyes, covered in barbs and its holding the roof up above him. It caught the falling roof, holding it up with its back, skeletal limbs shaking from the weight. The power flickers and trips, flooding the area in darkness. The only things illuminating the damaged space is the soft glow of crimson and the crackle from the terrified fire elemental._

_“Please move under me. This is heavy.” It requests in a deep voice. Grillby looks around, he can’t find Red, which starts to put this elemental into a panic. The flame studies the face of this monster, seeing it gives him chills. A large sinister grin is carved into the sides of its face, sporting a rather long golden tooth nestled among other sharp teeth. Something about this monster is familiar._

_“Please! I can’t hold this any longer!” It requests again. Grillby finally moves forward, having to duck under its large exposed crimson belly and ribs. It seems to have torn checkered pants on… Just like the ones his new employee was wearing…._

_“Red?” Grillby questions as he sits under the demon. It grunts in return as it drops the roof down onto the bar. The counter top crunches, glass breaks, water starts to fill in the ground. A massive tail snakes out from under this demon, coiling around our living fire. It holds him up very gently out of the water, pulling him back more. The pressure has been relieved off the roof and the rest of the building settles with a few moans._

_“Is that you?” Asking again with a shaky voice, Grillby inquires. The demon nods as he shakes fallen debris off of his back, long jagged spines move along with him._

_“How is that even…”_

_“Possible? Long story. All that matters is that you are safe.” Red cuts Grillby off, he is just worried about his boss, slowly turning to move over to the side and sit. They are trapped right now but Red can dig them out. Fire trucks and bystanders call out in the air. A recovery crew is on their way._

_“I’m sorry about the roof boss. I’ll get you out, just tell them I went home early. Nobody else needs to know.” Red gears up, sniffing out the weakest spot. He tries to find a location where the damp air is the strongest and nobody is located. The demon ignites a small flame in his chest,_ _illuminating the small area more, steam rising from his muzzle and shoulders. The energy lights up the dark, damp space in a soft glow._

_“Step back, this is going to be loud.” The demon warns, vapor escaping his maw. A short low hum fills the air, bisected jaws open slightly, and a bright beam pulses out of Red' maw. It’s a low power charge and it blasts an area big enough for Grillby to escape from. The bystanders outside let out a shriek at the sudden energy release, thinking it was Grillby trying to free himself. Red then grabs ahold and lifts Grillby out with his hands, helping him up out of the newly freed hole. Rain pours in._

              Returning to the present, Grillby recalls one of the many good deeds this Red has done. Protecting him from the roof cave in, playing bouncer and throwing very drunk patrons out. It did take a while for the bar to be rebuilt but it's much safe now. No amount of rain will cause the roof to fall in again. The elemental did stay true to his friends word. It was just him reported in the paper, surviving the cave in. Red reappeared later on to help out, using magic to clear away debris with the cleanup crew, large smile plastered on his face. Grillby did also learn that one of the skeletons biggest fears is rejection.

_‘Boss, I don’t want others to know because I don’t want to be labeled a freak.’_

_‘But you saved me. Come on, it can’t be that bad. I owe you at least a few rounds of drinks.’_

_Both monsters got plastered that night, but that’s what it took for Red to talk. He accidently referred Grillby as his father, the already crimson on his cheeks turning deeper at his mistake._

              Deep down, Grillby thanks the Merciful Angel that he hired Red, but he needs to return to his paperwork. Bills don’t pay themselves.

              Suddenly a low rumble shakes the ground. Screaming can be heard from out in the dining room as loud blasts sound from outside. It sounds like a truck is idling outside, then crashing into other cars, along with bright flashes of light. Grillby is startled out of his thoughts as he darts to the dining room of his restaurant. He finds his patrons and another collection of pedestrians, monsters and humans alike, cowering inside. An ear splitting bellow of rage is heard outside, along with a bright flash and yelps of the cowering pedestrians who found refuge inside. A figure darts past the outside windows, along with a much larger one stomping behind, shaking glass and gaining fast.

              “It’s a demon!”             “It’s going to kill him!”              “Lord save us.”

              A large pit falls into Grillby’s stomach as he makes his way to the front, ignoring their pleads for him to stay inside. One glimpse is all it took and Grillby sprints to the other side of his restaurant, heading deep into the kitchen, hoping to get to the back door in time.

 

* * *

 

 

Roll back about half an hour to a sprinting skeleton making his way down the streets of town. He dodges other pedestrians, leaping over objects in the sidewalk and skidding around corners, orange in the face. This speed on its own that this rather tall skeleton is traveling would impress a certain fish monster, and that thought alone makes him sprint harder.

 

* * *

 

 

Going back a little further, just when the sun is just starting to set, the sky changes all different colors as stocky skeleton watches from his location on a bench. He stays as time ticks on, watching the oranges and pinks turn to purples and blacks, bright pricks pepper the sky. Often getting up and walking around the small track that loops around the city pond, Red hums to himself. Both eye lights white, another stupid grin falls on his face. It’s like the best news have befallen this skeleton in a long time and to him, it’s true, he feels affection for the first time in forever. His life is starting to look up again.  

Completely losing track of time since he left his phone in his room, Red continues to hum some fun tunes and kick his feet in the same rhythm. The evening is starting to turn cold and this skeleton often thinks about returning home, but a little longer outside won’t hurt. It’s chilly but the cold never really bothered this skeleton. This location has turned into his own little place of zen as Red sits at his favorite bench, charting the stars in his skull. Occasionally, he likes to take off his cheap shoes and feel the dry grass in his toes. Oh how his brother would have loved this.

By now, a long time has passed, sun is fully down leaving Red out alone on the bench. A cool breeze shakes the trees and grass, giving the quiet area some much needed sound to block the constant noise of pulsing magic in Red’ skull. It’s going to take him a while to calm down from all this shit that’s been building for the past few weeks, being borderline living rage will do that, but Red knows what to do. He’s been there before, and now that he knows he isn’t going to be rejected by the monsters that he is willing to call family, his outlook is better than ever. Just getting over this Undyne thing, that’s the real kicker. Best not to dwell anymore on it tonight, Red just doesn’t have the energy. He really hasn’t had the energy for a while, random injuries have appeared on his bones, weak from depression. He just puts a band-aid on and goes on with his day.

              Hurried footsteps sound in the grass far off, stirring Red out of his thoughts. He pops his head up, watching a tall figure come up into the park, look around and then taking off in a sprint. It pauses again, orange magic streaks in the darkness. Must be Papyrus! Red gets up off the bench and teleports over, startling the tall skeleton, who gives off a yelp.

              “Heya dude! What are you doing out here so late?” Red greets the newcomer. He takes a step closer, trying to gesture for a hug. Knowing full well Papyrus likes affection, and the fact that he isn’t going to reject him, Red has started to play along. He doesn’t like long contact, but every once in a while, this stocky skeleton doesn’t mind.

An orange eye light peers down at the other skeleton, wisps of vapor move in the wind. Having to take a step back, Red can feel the seething rage coming off of Papyrus. He tilts his head in question, soul starting to sink in his ribs.

              “Re…d.… We. Need. To. Talk.” Papyrus speaks through gritted teeth. Oh, this doesn’t sound good. Red takes another step back. This also feels frighteningly familiar.

              “So I got word that you have been busy tonight. Care to explain?” This tall skeleton drips with venom. He smiles wide, orange magic swirling around in his eye sockets.

              “Um… not really. I’ve been out here, mostly after sunset. Why?” A confused Red responds. Something’s up.

              “Oh nothing. I just found out that a good friend of mine is in the hospital, recovering from burns.” Papyrus speaks with a steady voice, in almost a giggle. It starts to scare Red, but a grin grows on his face, causing a snicker.

              “Oh damn. Is Undyne okay?” A wide toothy grins spreads across Red’s face at that comment. Big mistake. Papyrus begins to shake with rage, this other skeletons words confirming his theory.

              “Nyeh, she is not okay. No thanks to you!” In a quick moment, Papyrus grabs ahold of Red’ shirt, pulling him close so that he is right up in the other skeletons face, towering over him, looking deep into his sockets.

              “Hey hey hey! I DIDN’ FUCKIN DO IT.” Red is caught completely off guard. He grabs a hold of Papyrus arms, trying to break free. “I didn’ fuckin hurt that fish fuck!”

              “There are eye witness reports that you did and that she is covered in burns and slices! YOU DID AND HAVE BETRYED ME FOR THE LAST TIME!” In a bout of anger, Papyrus pushes Red, who just barely manages to stay strong and stand on his feet. Anger starts to build off of both skeletons.

              “They’re lying. If I did, she would have died!” Red argues in return. Papyrus doesn’t want to hear any of this, putting his hands on his skull looking away, causing Red to growl in return.

              “It doesn’t matter, I don’t want you around anymore. Undyne was right, you are just a soulless monster.” The taller skeleton says in a weak voice. Red’s soul starts to hurt. This is going bad.

              The night goes on. Anybody who is around moves away, giving these two space, paying them no mind.

              The stocky skeleton stands dumbfounded, mouth agape. “What… How could you!? I didn’t… I didn’t do it Papyrus!” It seems like his roommate is turning on him. That’s enough to make his own marrow boil in return, crimson magic and tail flicking ahoy.

              “I trusted you! Enough with your lies! Enough with your controlling behavior. I should have listened to Undyne in the first place and never moved in. She would still be okay if it wasn’t for you!”

              “Papyrus, I didn’t fucking do it. You would have known if it was me! I swear to you.” Red takes a step closer.

              “No, it was you! You have lied to me time and time again, with holding important information, and never showing me any true kindness. You are lower than scum, worthless skeleton!” Papyrus yells, beginning his rant, pointing an accusing finger at his soon to be ex-roommate, pushing him away again.

“I see why nobody likes you, they can see right through your lies and deception. I don’t want a monster like you in my family! Somebody that can’t even control themselves. You don’t deserve to be called my friend, you don’t even deserve to share the same face as my brother!” Fat tears roll down the sides of Papyrus soft face. He struggles to keep his voice level. “I can’t even bear to call you my family anymore. You are nothing like the brother I once loved and I will never consider you my brother again.” Voice cracking, Papyrus stays strong. Poor Red begins to tear up as well, which starts to make him angry.

              “If you can’t handle calling me your brother, then that’s fine! Call me your soon to be ex-roommate.” Red begins, looking away, soul breaking. As rage hits a breaking point, the skeleton snaps. He can fell a twinge of pain in his ribs as fingers start to point into long claws and curl. “I’m warning you Papyrus, you don’t want to go down this path!” Red snarls in return.

              “Oh, because you are a vile monster? Why didn’t you tell me that either, huh?! Is it so bad that you had to withhold that information, or are you just a freak of nature that everybody has told me to stay way?”

              That last comment caused a spark of pain in Red’s soul. He grabs the cloth of his shirt with sharp fingers, wincing. His voice starts to change and growl, going deeper with each word, face beginning to break apart. “Fine then! If you can’t have me in your family after everything that we have been through, then that makes you my enemy, AND I DESTORY MY ENEMIES.” Snapping his attention back to the young skeleton, Red’s eye lights suddenly drop, voice turning into a steamy echo, teeth growing longer in his mouth. _“we are doing thissss my way and I’m tired of playing by this worldsss rulesss. **T I M E  T O  D I E** ”_

              In a single motion, Red grabs both his arms and digs his claws in his sides, hunching over in pain. His eye lights are still gone but something else begins to happen. Magic crackles around him and the same demonic shift begins to take place as before. He lets out a gurgled scream as soft points snap and crack open, giving way for larger bone to form, unable to control his emotion any longer. Which each painful step forward, Red grows larger, wider. Round ecto-belly being pulled tight, changing size and bursting out of the demon's shirt. Large spines rip out of his shirt, cloth ribbons falling to the ground as a long tail snakes out of his pants, ripping them from the back as it travels to the ground. An odd fan portion seems to grow at the end of Red’s longer tail, along with a sharp barb, vertebrae popping up, becoming sharp. Toes become longer, pushing up out of his cheap shoes, shredding them as they push up off the ground.

Crimson steam rolls out of his long teeth, face growing nubs, horns shooting out of his skull, dropping the changing skeleton to the ground. Papyrus can only watch in horror, backing up, as his once short and stocky roommate transforms into a demon with four angry beady little eyes, a large sinister twisted smile cracks along his face as his bones push out to form a short muzzle, along with a larger split up his face, opening up to show deep into the muzzle. Teeth, and claws finish at growing into horror-sized lengths, snapping and slashing in anger, digging into the soft ground. Red is no longer the once shorter, stocky skeleton that Papyrus got to know. He’s become what he is truly meant to be, the demon from Underfell. This demon tried to try allow himself peace, but now, his boiling rage has hit its limit and has bubbled over.

              It’s at that moment, Papyrus knew… he fucked up. Red charges after him on two legs, all 750lbs of 22ft skeleton demon. All anger is replaced with terror. This monster matches what Papyrus saw that night he was saved. The cracked face, golden tooth, horns, and bisected jaws open in fury along with the familiar low hum in the air, which causes Papyrus to duck as an oncoming blast of rage blazes overhead. It burns white hot and singes the top of Papyrus’ skull, almost not dodging in time. Massive amounts of steam roll out of Red’s mouth and nose from the blast. The large split up his face acts as a pressure release from the explosion in his mouth. He snorts fire and charges again, trying to grab Papyrus with long claws.

During this mad dash for his life, Papyrus starts to think about what went wrong. Maybe he should have stayed calm like he normally is able to do, but this time was just too much, and it seems to be the same for Red.

              Long legs carry Papyrus across the open field, but Red’s are longer. He catches up, long toe claws digging into the ground, teeth trying to snap at Papyrus. The now smaller skeleton is still faster, but Papyrus uses his size to pivot in place, zipping other directions, causing Red to tumble and roll on the ground. Deep breaths and speed allow Papyrus a head start, but Red is soon up, and sprints on all fours, large claws digging into the ground to give him traction. Within a moment, the demon is right back on the skeleton, nipping at his heels, ripping up turf and throwing dirt.

It’s a few more steps and Red catches Papyrus in his massive claws in a tumble. He comes skidding to a stop on the turf, lifting the struggling skeleton up close, having to turn his massive skull to the side to get a better look. A deep rolling chuckle bubbles out of the demons ribs.

“I got you. Go on, struggle, it makes this more fun.” Red chuckles, raising what remains of his bonebrow, looking Papyrus over. Completely frightened, the small skeleton struggles in his roommates grasp, which causes the demon to chuckle more. Papyrus tries to think this through, as this whole event is the result of not doing that, and summons bones to throw at Red. They don’t do much damage, bouncing off the sides of his skull and teeth, which causes Red to snort in response. The demon even goes as far to catch a few bones in his mouth, snapping them in half for effect, magic fluttering to the ground. He licks his large teeth with a long crimson tongue, drooling.

“I’ve always wondered what skeleton tasted like.” Opening his large maw, Red separates his bisected jaws and goes to bite down on Papyrus. The small skeleton quickly reacts in fear at the sight of the large teeth by summoning more bones, managing to break free. He took a chance and summoned bones in Red’s clawed hands. It finally did enough damage for Papyrus to break free. Just enough to cause a yelp to escape from the demons teeth and drop his target, shaking his hand out in pain, growling in response. A quick roll and recovery, giving Papyrus a chance to make another mad dash again, this time toward town. He hopes he can lose Red in town or at least, he would back off. Papyrus prays Red has enough of a moral compass to not hurt bystanders, but right now, it seems Red doesn’t care anymore. He is dead set on killing Papyrus, scrambling behind, and breathing hard while charging another blast in his teeth. This time, if he catches him, he’s just going to eat him. No talking, just a quick motion and a boney crunch.

The town is quiet, until a bright flash shoots out from the park. On-lookers gaze in horror as this large demon chases a smaller monster out of the park, almost eating him. The two figures fight and the smaller breaks free, who then turns in to town in a panic. The only thing this skeleton can do is run as far as he can, darting past others in the street, past cars as his pursuer chases behind. The demon shakes the ground, stomping past buildings, shaking glass and pushing cars, long tail hits light poles, showering the ground with sparks. The townsfolk scatter in droves, screaming as they run away from this demon.

Other, braver monsters try to defend the small skeleton using their own magic but Red breaks past, pushing them out of the way, and often shoving them to the side, swiping at and missing, destroying cars with massive claws trying to hit anything dumb enough to get close.

 Passing buildings in a blur, and another energy blast flying overhead, this time striking a vehicle that explodes in a large fire ball, this terrified skeleton makes a split decision and zips down a random thin alleyway, past dumpsters, hiding behind another corner. Red lets out a loud bellow and snorts, digging his massive claws into the pavement to stop himself from running face first into brick. He barks and backs off, thinking about trying to force himself in the small opening. It would be a tight fit but he could maneuver himself in there, but going up top is easier. The crowd backs off thinking the demon lost Papyrus, when in reality; he is just gearing up to climb the side of the building.

Standing tall on two legs, Red jumps and scales the building. Large claws dig into brick as the heavy demon climbs the side of the building, snorting in anger with each hand full. Bricks fall to the ground below as Red ascends the wall. People yelp and scream inside, wondering what’s going on outside, disturbing their sleep, causing dogs to howl and babies to scream. That doesn’t stop the demon, he continues on his mission with a vigorous thirst, shoving his snout into the open alleyway, sniffing the air, looking for Papyrus.

Hiding behind a truly disgusting dumpster, Papyrus shakes with fear. His bones clack and wobble, teeth chatter. He can hear the noises his demonic roommate is making, snorting around for him. Short barks fill the air, causing shivers to fall down the skeleton’s back. Papyrus isn’t safe there, Red will find him, he just knows it. Rubble drops from overhead as a small hum fills the air, freezing Papyrus in place. He was found, Red’s going to kill him!

Just then, a metal door opens and Papyrus is yanked inside a kitchen as a blazing heat fills in behind him, forcing the door shut. The door glows white and melts shut, details sagging. This time, a loud scream sounds from up high as scraps travel down the outside. A loud thump and dumpers getting pushed around. There is growling behind the door as Papyrus finally looks around to find a familiar fire element shaking, flames burning brighter, higher, his face laced with worry.

“Oh thank the fallen angel, Grillby! Thank you! Red… he… he…” Papyrus stammers. Grillby just hugs him close, rubbing his spine, holding the clacking skeleton. He just hums, trying to protect him. The door is melted and is now permanently closed shut. A loud pound sounds from outside, denting the door.

“This isn’t your fight Grillby! Give me Papyrus or I will rip the door out of the wall.” A deep snarl sounds from behind the melted metal. Grillby pulls Papyrus deeper into the kitchen, trying to get behind one of the counters as Red lets out a bark. A metallic rip then sounds from behind the duo as large claws are shoved through the metal door, ripping it out of the wall. Blackness of the alleyway is flooded with kitchen light as four glowing eyes pierce in. Two massive hands rip more of the wall away as the lingering demon forces the upper half of his body in, reaching for Papyrus. He snarls and snaps his jaws, reaching in, ripping up tiles, large sharp bones digging into the ceiling and floor alike, pulling himself in more. Claws just brush clothes, almost to Papyrus. Red is just within reach, snarling at his efforts.

 _“GIVE ME THAT SKELETON. **N O W**_.” Red snarls with a deep voice, steam rolling out of his mouth. He tries to shove his hand forward, wanting to dig his claws into soft ecto-gel. The other employees in the kitchen shriek in terror as Red tries to force himself in deeper, belly becoming stuck on the wall. All it takes is for Red to position his feet and push to get Papyrus, but Grillby isn’t going to allow this to happen. The elemental lights up his hands with fire, striking Red in the face, pushing him back. Red hisses in return and pushes himself out of the hole in the wall, taking bricks and tile with him. He growls and climbs back up the other outside wall, massive tail following behind, climbing the building again, destroying the wall face and flinging terracotta everywhere.

Helicopters fly overhead and spotlight the demon as he stands on the adjacent roof to the restaurant. Red then hops over to the other side, sniffing around on the top, shaking the building. He digs on the plaster covering the roof. One way or another, Red is getting at Papyrus, and if that means going in from the top, then so be it.

Down below in the restaurant, Papyrus and Grillby make their move into the dining room, hoping that the skeleton demon thinks they are still in the kitchen. They can hear Red rip up the ceiling, moving around. Dust falls off the ceiling as the sound of plaster and wood ripping becomes louder, along with the sounds of helicopters flying overhead. Red is coming in after Papyrus! Mortar from the ceiling falls in chunks, raining down into the kitchen. The staff inside start to scatter, darting out the hole in the wall, trying to flee. Light from above starts to fill in from the cracks as the power flickers. That’s about when Grillby grabs ahold of Papyrus’ arm and drags him deeper into the safety of the dining room as a large clawed hand breaks out of the ceiling.

              Another low hum and blinding light fill the kitchen. Anybody who didn’t make it out is burned to a crisp, some dust fills the air. Too much is going on to tell who was hit but this makes Grillby angry. He has had enough of this. The elemental turns to face Papyrus.

“Get everybody out.” Summoning more fire at his fingertips, Grillby walks into the kitchen after ordering the younger skeleton, heading over to where Red is trying to force himself in. The demon lands in the restaurant with a thud and hisses at Grillby. He’s way too big for the kitchen but that’s not going to stop him. Grillby throws another fireball at the demon, who just snickers in return. There is another low hum and Red belches rage at his old boss. He manages to doge in a roll and get back up. However, the blast breaks through the kitchen wall, going into the dining room. Pedestrians scatter and dart out of the front door.

“This is going to end, now!” Flames starting to turn different colors, hissing. The two monsters stare each other down. Grillby’s eyesight isn’t the best but he can see stains going down the sides of Red’s skull, sweat and tears alike. That almost makes his soul sink. _What did Papyrus say to him?_ Red responds with a loud bark and goes to push Grillby out of the way, pulling himself out of the kitchen, entering the dining room, not before taking the door and wall with him. It falls to the ground in pieces. The patrons that were inside have finally filed out, Papyrus lingering at the door way. He ready’s to help Grillby, summoning magic in his hands.

              The demon gets wind of Papyrus and squints past Grillby. He chuckles and shoves himself through the space, smashing tables and booths like. Papyrus stands tall.

              “I’m not afraid of you!” Summoning his strength, Papyrus yells. The demon just laughs.

              “Aw… that’s not what you smell like.” A steamy hiss rolls out of Red’s teeth. He claws his way forward, reaching for Papyrus, large spines digging in the ceiling once again. It seems like Red is still trying to be mindful of the restaurant. Papyrus backs up again, this time standing fully outside, leaving Grillby and Red in the restaurant. This livid demon growls in response and pays no mind to the elemental. Instead, he drags his hind legs forward so they are under him and leaps, smashing through the front, shattering glass and brick, grabbing a lingering skeleton in his wake. Got you.

              During this time, a response team has been dispatched to deal with the raging monster and they scream up to the scene, filing out of their vehicles, readying their weapons. Humans and monsters alike prepare magical tranquilizer darts, designed to work with monster magic to bring this demon down. Red ignores at the gathering troops, having his current target in his claws. Just about to bite down onto his squirming roommate, a sudden pain lights up his tail, causing another yelp to escape the demons large jaws. He drops the skeleton, who scurries off, giving the response team a chance to fire. Their darts hit, but Red stands back up. He snarls and screams, ripping the darts out of his gel body, bleeding from the pricks. That just seems to piss him off, redirecting his attention from Papyrus to them.

Lifting spines and bellowing rage, Red stomps forward to the task force. The demon can smell the fear coming off the troops, giving him more incentive to attack. A low hum and a bright light, Red fires at the group, its members managing to dodge out of the way or down low as the energy blast hits the one of the larger trucks. It explodes in a ball of fire as the demon laughs at the carnage, taking the distraction as a chance to charge in, swiping at frozen bodies and flaming vehicles. The troops scatter from the attacks, trying to regroup. It’s become a game now, a game that Red is going to enjoy when killing each and every one of them. It’s also clear that Red is slowing down, his moments slowed and limbering. He isn’t sure if it’s from how long he has been going or if it’s the tranquilizers. Only thing that matters is that Red eats Papyrus, and then he can pass out.

Back to the lingering duo of Papyrus and Grillby, they watch from behind the carnage, watching this demon rip through these poor troops. The two chatter to themselves, trying to come up with a way to get the rampage to stop. They watch in awe as Red destroys any forces that come near.

Other patrons watch with camera phones rolling, recording the destruction, watching this large demon pounce on cars, crushing them into the ground, throwing dust into the air, and ripping humans apart, all in full riot gear. Souls shatter before Red even has a chance to collect with large claws, snorting in anger, other programming starting to take over, and bottom eyes turning into rings. His effort isn’t wasted, gaining a few levels of violence as the destruction goes on, scarring the town. As of right now, nobody has a LV level close enough to stop this demon in this enraged state, now that he has surpassed his current level of violence, which is at a staggering 17, nobody will be able to stop him. Red even manages to blow a helicopter out of the sky with an attack, bringing it down in a large ball of flame, killing the crew inside. They either burn or splatter on the ground. It’s clear that this demon is having fun with this, letting out all the anger that has been building for weeks out on anything that dumb enough to get close.

After watching the unrelenting force he released, it takes Papyrus a moment to form a plan in his skull. He then looks over to Grillby and hastily explains. The elemental nods along in understanding. It’s dumb enough to work.

At this point, most of the crowd has scattered, dust fills the air along with smoke from fires and the smell of iron. Red’s claws are caked with blood and dust, however, his own marrow is added in the mixture. He’s been depressed for a while, so his bones are weaker, disenabling him from being immune to weaker attacks, such as gunshots and impact damage. Cuts and bruises pepper his snout and limbs. Tail has cracked vertebrae and are becoming tender. Red is sure that a few of his toes are broken, claws cracked open, but he continues on, not caring anymore. His life is over and he always wanted to go out with a bang, well now’s his chance. Mumbling an apology to his long lost brother, tears streaking down the sides of the demons face, Red waits for that sweet relief; that is, if there is anybody left to fight him. The task force that was dispatched isn’t all gone, but they regroup and wait for the large monster to tire out more before reacting.

Fire suddenly strikes the side of Red’s massive skull. His vision is poor due to the four eyes but his nose still works. It seems like another contender has entered as it throws more fire at him, striking him in the eyes. Red gets down low and hisses in return, being forced to squint to see, it appears to be… _A PURPLE FIRE MONSTER????_ The demon tilts his head, harsh breathing bubbling up from his rubs.

Maybe he’s dying and this is his is welcome into hell. The purple flame gets closer, clothes that where never given the proper level of enchantment are starting to singe. Red barks in return, getting up close. Something inside of him is causing him to calm down, staggering closer to look this elemental over. He can’t see his face very well but it doesn’t matter, Red is going to get as close as he can. Shoving his muzzle in and inhaling air, Red snorts this monster over, letting his guard down. It finally gives the remaining troops a chance to take aim once again.

Purple hands gently grab the sides for Red’s skull. This demon is finally starting to calm down, whining, tail scuttling across the ground. Fat tears roll down the sides of Reds face as he presses his nose into the purple elementals chest.

“I’m so sorry dad, I failed. I want to go home now.” Red whimpers. One of the purple hands rubs Red down the bridge of his nose, distracting him.

Suddenly shots ring out from behind the duo.

Some darts miss, but others pierce Red’s body gel, causing an irritated scream to sound from the large skeleton. He backs up from the fire elemental, huffing and starts to charge an attack, feeling betrayed, but it fails. Finally, the tranquilizers are mixing with his magic, causing Red to lumber around and fall over in a loud thud. Red snarls and struggles on the ground, trying to get back up but the darts work fast. He collapses back on the ground, trying to fight off the sedative, but it holds strong, causing him to black out. Four eye lights flicker, finally dimming out: Red has been defeated.

The crowd suddenly erupts in cheers on as this purple fire elemental stands there; looking on as the demon’s attack his finally come to an end. The purple elemental turns out to be Grillby, burning hotter than normal. He finally cools off, flames returning to their natural orange and red hues, and strides over to the fallen demon, rubbing his hand on his skull. His cloths are singed but the assault is over.

“Good work.” A few troops call to him. Grillby just shakes his head in response. This shouldn’t have happened. What caused this? Was it Papyrus? TV crews finally swarm, able to report their stories that they had to stand back and tell. They pester Grillby for an interview but he walks away, unable to do it. He made a promise long ago to never out this skeleton and he vows to keep it so. Newscasters ignore Grillby then, exclaiming that this hero doesn’t wish to be interviewed but is thanked by the city. This tired fire elemental just returns to the other skeleton monster that he protected, purple and blue flames lick his face once again. A group of pedestrians cheer and praise Grillby, but he pays them no mind. Instead, he stomps right over to Papyrus, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him away from the crowd, not stopping until they are away from the news crews.

“What the fuck was that!? You could have gotten yourself killed!” Heat raises around the duo, steam raising of Grillby from the cold air.

“He’s done nothing but praise you and this is how you repay him?!” Grillby yells at the skeleton standing with his arms crossed, pacing around the open space. “There were tears running down the sides of his face, Papyrus. What did you do to him?!” Papyrus turns orange in the face. His bones finally stopped shaking but he isn’t going to stand getting yelled at for this.

“Praise? Grillby, he hurt Undyne! What was I supposed to do? Stand by and watch?”

“Did you not listen? He didn’t hurt Undyne. If he did, she would have been dust!”

“Asgore told me she was covered in burns and slashes!”

“Papyrus, she has chemical burns all around her mouth and knife marks on her hands, suggesting that she ingested something foul and tried to defend herself.” Grillby finally finishes his rant, flames starting to die down and swirl. He just rubs his temples in return. There is a long pause between the two. Papyrus rubs the top of his skull and thinks.

“What does Red say about me?” Papyrus perks at one of Grillby’s comments, ringing his fingers together. This tired elemental just pinches the bridge of his nose, rubbing his face.

“Nothing but praise, just like your own brother. I’ve never seen him this happy, always glad to go home. You must have done something to set him off like that. What happened?” Squinting hard, Grillby has had enough shit to deal with this evening. Not only is his restaurant trashed but he lost friends. The body count isn’t clear yet but he’s guessing it’s pretty high.

“I confronted him… and told him I was tired of his lies and that I didn’t want him in my family… anymore. And… and I c-called him a f-freak of nature.” Rattling, Papyrus explains, fresh tears roll down his own face. “I didn’t know he would act that way!”

There’s another moment of silence between the two.

“I see.” Grillby drops his stance. He then stares Papyrus dead in the face. “You do realize that he has spent a lot of time trying to convince us that he is a Sans, just like your brother, and that you meant more to him than anything in the world. That being accepted by you was his main goal in life once he finally let you in?” Taking a quick breath for a loud sigh, Grillby returns to his lashing. “You rejected him, his biggest fear. I see why he wanted to kill you so badly. You better hope he doesn’t die from a shattered soul.”

“I.. I.. I didn’t think he would…”

“It doesn’t matter what you think he would have done! You aren’t going to get a second chance, Papyrus. Go back over there and pray that there isn’t a large pile of dust in the road.” Grillby angrily points back over to the scene. Clean up crews walk around Red, trying to figure out what to do with him. Papyrus heads off, listening to the crowd shout that they should finish the monster off, that he is a freak and should be dusted. The cleanup crew isn’t allowing anybody to get close, and all is semi calm. That is, until Red’s sockets start to glow again, the sedative had finally wore off.

The crowd gasps and backs up as the fallen demon forces himself up on shaky limbs. The remains of his clothes are ruined, strands of fabric just holding on, but Red gets up. He snorts fire at the crowd and turns, walking on four legs, limping off the scene. The troops go to take aim at him once again, but Papyrus darts in, trying to get them to stop, putting his hands on their weapons, pushing them down. They shout in return but neither skeleton pay them any attention and walk on. By now, a frantic Toriel has appeared on the scene, here to gather Papyrus. She saw him on the news, darting out of the house. She heard the battles on her sprint over. Breathing hard, the queen comes up to her skeleton, grabbing his hand.

“Come on dear, leave it alone.” The gentlest voice she can muster, given the circumstance.

“No! I have to go. I’ll come back to the house later.” Papyrus pulls his had out of her grasp, taking a step over to the limping skeleton. He’s slow, but the demon is getting away.

“Papyrus, you will come with me or I will make you.” Finally anger has set in, Toriel uses her mom voice, ordering Papyrus to come with her. She glares with fire in her eyes.

“In all due respect, no. Follow me if you have too.” It doesn’t work, younger sibling determination be damned once again. Papyrus is on the trail, following behind Red. It seems like he is heading out, back over to the apartments. His long legs carry the small skeleton right over to Red, behind him. Red, of course, can hear him and snorts in response, keeping his stride.

“Hey, wait up.” Papyrus calls. Red is right, he does still scare the marrow out of him. “Please. I want to talk.” The demon stops and stands on wobbly legs. Those in the crowd that are still paying attention are watching this interaction; new crews still have their cameras rolling. With his last bit of energy, Red snaps to attention, grabbing Papyrus off the ground. Toriel reacts with fire on her fingertips, the crowd gasps. It seems like this demon is going to get his chance after all.

It’s a weak grasp, as some of Red’s fingers are broken, marrow starting to stain Papyrus’ clothes and dripping down onto the ground. The remains of tears still stain Red’s face. His soul broken.

The smaller skeleton doesn’t struggle in his roommates grasp. He allows this, knowing that Red might still eat him but damn it all if he isn’t going to try to talk his way out of this last one. Bringing the smaller skeleton up to his face, jaws opening wide, Red preps to bite down. One last effort, Papyrus holds his hands up, managing to push Red’s maw away. It seems like this demon is growing weaker by the moment.

 “I’m sorry, okay!” Papyrus shouts in fear. Red backs down for a moment, pulling Papyrus away to get a good look at him.

“I’m sorry for what I said and how I acted. I didn’t mean to react that way; I was so upset that I didn’t know what else to do.” The smaller skeleton spills. Red pulls back, growling. He snarls and barks. Papyrus shakes his skull. Toriel lurks from behind, and it seems like Grillby has appeared. Both monsters on standby, having fire in their hands.

“I don’t want us to be mad at each other. I’m truly sorry.” Tears roll down the skeletons face. He lets his arms drop. “If you are going to eat me, then do it. Just know that I care about you, almost like you where my own brother.” That’s about the time Red starts to chatter, all in his odd version of dog. He makes vocalizations akin to speech, snarling and huffing, holding out his free arm, waving it around like he is explaining himself. Poor Papyrus can’t understand a word.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you are saying.” That causes Red to let out an angry howl. Grillby pips in.

“He said that he tried explaining this to you at one time but you wouldn’t listen to him.” The fire elemental explains. He’s worked around the dogs long enough to pick up some lingo from them. Red agrees with an angry huff.

“It sounds like that your rejection hurt him, really bad.”

Red snorts in agreement.

“I didn’t mean too.” Papyrus looks down, tears streak down the sides of his face.

“Well at this point, I don’t care.” Red finally talks. It’s rough, gravely and deep, seems like dog was much easier after all. Toriel starts putting things together. Red opens his jaws once again and this time, he gets ahold of one of Papyrus’ arms. His teeth are sharp and start to dig in, but Papyrus keeps a straight face and starts talking.

“If this is what you have to do to transfer your pain, then do it. Take my arm off, but please. You have always been there for me, and in return, I will always be there for you. I was angry and upset, just like yourself. The world came crashing down on the both of us. I’m afraid of losing my best friend and a member of my family, again. I can’t comprehend how you must have felt when your whole life was destroyed, but taking it out on all those innocent people won’t bring them back. Killing me won’t bring your brother back. The only thing you can do is move on in his name and make life how you want it.”

Marrow runs out of Red’s teeth, both of the skeletons are crying. Papyrus rubs his sockets to get a clear image of what’s around him. The other two have unsummoned their magic, watching this conversation.

              “So please, do what you think you need to do. Either eat me or free me. I want what’s best for you and just like how my brother wanted what was best for me. You’re my best friend now, please don’t leave.”

              Red finally let’s go of Papyrus. He puts the small skeleton on the ground and backs up, pressing his back into a building, unable to handle his emotions in a healthy manner. He also shakes his skull, not wanting to answer. It seems like the demon wants to run away.

              “Hey, it’s okay. You want to return to your home world, don’t you?” Papyrus walks forward, Red whimpers, shaking his head in agreement. Side stepping, Red turns and heads into the closest ally way, darting into the darkness. He wants to hide, wait for all of this to blow over. Papyrus follows behind, not allowing his roommate to be alone.

 Not even caring that he is being followed, Red starts to shift back down to size. He is just out of the main public eye, but Papyrus, Toriel and Grillby are right behind him. Hardened dirt, marrow, and who knows what else fall off of Red. Body painfully changing back. The skeleton wipes liquid from his face.

In the shadows of the alleyway, sits a normal sized skeleton monster. Reds is beaten all to hell, covered in gnarly dents and cracks. His fingers and toes are broken, claws are cracked and bleeding, along with teeth and tail. Gel is ripped apart, bleeding crimson magic down his body. It seems like the change back aggravated his injuries, causing them to bleed again, including the nasty scar on his chest. It’s safe to say, Red needs medical attention. Papyrus on the other hand ignores his roommate’s appearance and gets in close to look him over, but Toriel holds him back. She is still protective of her skeleton.

“No dear. You don’t know what he is or if he is safe.” She whispers, holding him back, giving Red a frightful gaze. Red doesn’t react, but Papyrus does, turning dark orange in the face. He makes eye contact with Grillby and looks back over to Toriel.

“His name is Red.” Stomping with effect. “Up until three weeks ago, he was a very good monster that I have had the joy to get to know over the past few months and to include into my family. I want to make sure he is okay and to tell him that I’m sorry.” The tall skeleton begins. He knows there is a lot of work to do, but this is the best start. An angry huff and turn, Papyrus starts back over to Red.  
              “Sorry for what?” The queen questions. She tilts her head and blinks. Surely he must be joking. Red should be the one apologizing, and explaining. Lots of explaining. Like now. Grillby just stands with his arms crossed, crackling.

“I caused this. I’m going to fix it.” Papyrus turns to face Toriel. He goes to explain but is cut off.

 “That’s if I let you back in, Papyrus. I don’t have the energy for this anymore and I’m very tired.” More slurring of words, Red staggers back. His exhaustion is starting to take over.

Slight eye bugging, and a flustered ‘Nyeh’, Papyrus whines. “Please hear me out, I’m sorry!”

“Being s-sorry isn’t going to cut it.” A harsh cough rolls up Red’s ribs. He wipes marrow from his nasty, cracked teeth. The taste of iron still lingers in his mouth. “You hurt me, pretty badly. Now I’m finished with you.” He spits any stray marrow on the ground.

“Please!” Another plead sounds from the younger skeleton.

“No, fuck off.” Another harsh cough spitting much needed marrow from Red. “I don’t w-want anything to do with you anymore. I’m going home, and that’s it. D-don’t try to stop me, don’t try to interfere.”

“But Red!”

“Quit a-acting like a child Papyrus and l-leave me alone!” With his final slurred words, Red turns to depart back to his apartment, back to his device, leaving Papyrus, Toriel, and Grillby behind. He doesn’t turn around, he doesn’t even bother to look back. His soul has been crushed and the only thing he wants to do is die in peace, hopefully in his own bed while asleep. The duo watch Red stagger and stumble on, allowing him peace.

That is until he collapses onto the cold ground, not moving. All magic completely goes out, only thing remains is a glowing soul in Red’s rib cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think??? Was I too harsh? It sucks that Red worked himself.. down to the bone! AHAHAHA *evil cackling and thunder crashing*
> 
> For real, this chapter was a joy to do and i loved every moment. been waiting to do this one for a long while and i think it was worth it. something like this was supposed to happen earlier but what happends when you add extra chapters you didnt account for.


	18. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus finally understands but his hope might be running thin

 Lights flashing around. Streets busy with activity and clean-up crews underway, clearing damaged vehicles and building debris off the pavement, a thick dust fills the air. As of right now, the body count is up in the thirties. Ambulances have been dispatched looking for hurt monsters and humans alike, taking broken bodies off the ground, along with collecting dust for families. The crews have yet to go outside of the main area, leaving anybody out of their perimeter untreated, leaving an unknown fallen monster on the ground. Already a fire elemental is rolling him over, checking his soul for injury.

Body gel bleeding profusely, broken bones crackling with crimson magic, Red lays on the cold ground. Grillby has rolled him over, checking his soul; it’s full of cracks and splinters. Another skeleton, Papyrus comes up to him in worry, but is held back by the last person in their little group, Toriel. Dark orange flushes across the skeleton’s face. He turns to glare at his goat queen.

“Why are you holding me back?! He’s dying!” A flustered skeleton waves his arms around. More flustered ‘Nyehing’, skull tapping with crackling magic. Toriel glares down at her skeleton, arms on her hips. She shakes her finger and gives Papyrus her ‘mom’ voice.

“Papyrus! He just tried to kill you and now you want to return to him? Do you not understand that?! Your brother wouldn’t have allowed you to interact with a monster like him, and now that he is gone, I will not either!” Toriel grabs Papyrus’ high shoulders and makes him look at her in the eyes.

While this argument is going on, complete with a lot of angry arm waving, Grillby places Red’s arms on his chest and preps to lift him up. His friend is much heavier than he wants to deal with but it’s the best he can do. Hooking his arms under Red’s shoulders, Grillby prepares himself to lift his unconscious friend off the ground, draping the bleeding monster across his chest in a heavy hug, shoving his hands under him, minding the tail.

About now, the two arguing monsters notice and Toriel still holds Papyrus back.

“All due respect, let go of me. This monster saved me for my attacker. He then used as much magic as he could to keep me alive. I’ve going to return the favor and help him in a time of need, no matter what will happen.” Clicking his teeth shut and a strong nod, Papyrus breaks free from this grasp and quickly moves over to the unconscious monsters side. He helps Grillby lift Red off the ground and drapes the bleeding skeleton over his own shoulder. Younger monster strength, Papyrus is able to carry Red with little to no issue, but however, that doesn’t stop him from being heavier than his own brother.

“He needs medical treatment.” Papyrus gestures over to the EMTs running around like roaches. Grillby crackles with navy.

“How do you know what he needs? You are the cause of all of this! You are the reason all of this destruction happened and innocent people have been killed! Just help me move him to my townhouse and give me a key to his apartment.” Purple threatens to return into Grillby’s flames. He stands with his hands on his hips and scowls. Both monsters are locked in a stare down. Papyrus starts to growl, his own anger fueling him.

“He NEEDS medical treatment or he will die!” Taller skeleton snaps back.

  
 “What he needs is that small vial from his room, that’s all the treatment required.” Both monsters still locked in either others sights.

“What good will that vile do?! Hun? You said it would give him a power boost”

“Yes, and right now, it would jump start his magic, healing him. Other than that, I have no idea what it would do.”

“That’s not good enough! He needs medical attention. I don’t want to watch my brother die again! Do you have any idea what that does to you?! DO YOU?!!” Papyrus shouts with Red on his shoulder. His crimson gel drips down Papyrus’ shoulder, down his clothes, who just promptly turns and starts walking over to the EMT’s.

“Papyrus, wait! If they are gathering magic from the monster off the ground, they will figure out it’s him and they will lock him away!”

“Maybe that’s a good thing Grillby, Red can rest in jail.” Toriel interjects. Papyrus looks over, jaw dropped.

“What?? Your Majesty!? That’s not a good idea! He doesn’t like confinement, you don’t understand.”

“What I understand is that the skeleton over your should is very dangerous and is a hazard to all the good people here. He needs confinement.”

Papyrus isn’t going to argue with Toriel. He’s going to take his roommate over to the EMT’s and make sure he gets the attention he needs. Then he will take him home, but a quick glance back at the limp body on the tall skeletons arm makes a cold shiver roll down is spine. Red has a rather nasty crack on the left side of his skull from where his head hit the pavement, complete with slick marrow oozing out of it.

 

* * *

 

              Beeping machines and buzzing staff. A figure sits in a dark room hooked up to tubes and a monitor. A mask rests on his face, giving much needed air. It fogs with his soft breathing. A soft blue glow emits from a bag hooked up to the sleeping figure, along with a tube that goes in under his blankets feeding him much needed magic as this skeleton sleeps.

              Nurses, human and monsters alike, come and go. Often checking vials and magic level, keeping this weak monster alive. Occasionally other staff will enter, security and other personnel alike. Even a guest will come and go, but they have to be allowed in by the security guarding the room.

              They know.

              It didn’t take long for the medical staff to figure out that this skeleton was the monster that tried to destroy parts of down town. It started with checking of injury, down to cross matching magic due to suspicion, but they allow this skeleton monster to rest. When he finally stirs, there will be hell to pay.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning.

There is still a lot of work going on outside of the apartment complex. Many buildings have been damaged, there is still blood and dust on the street. If it wasn’t for the fact that this skeleton just barely escaped death, he would be worried sick, but right now, he sits in his home. Last night turned into early this morning. It took a while, but Papyrus managed to collect his belongings from Toriel and returned home for a much needed rest.

Until after the unseen tenant in his apartment stopped clicking on and off his bedroom light, along with things falling over. Seems like the ghost isn’t happy and has found a way to cling itself to Papyrus, refusing to let go. The living skeleton promised he would go visit his roommate in the morning after some well needed rest.

So after a long sleep, Papyrus wakes to his phone buzzing on his nightstand. It’s Alphys and she too sounds just as tired.

After a few requests for repeating the given information and another request for the yellow monster to slow down, Papyrus gets an update on Undyne. That info alone finally manages to get the tall skeleton out of his bed, stumble over to the shower, and almost fall back asleep standing up while putting on a shirt. He’s woken back up with a push onto his bed, and soul pounding upon impact.

“Okay okay! I’m going. Leave me alone.” Exclaiming out loud for a break, Papyrus mumbles and stumbles out of his room. “Let me get something to eat first, okay?! Unlike you, I’m hungry.” Sass is met with another push and Papyrus shoved down onto the ground. Note to self, don’t antagonize the ghost. A very quick breakfast indeed, Papyrus waited around long enough to make himself some toast before the pushing started again. Good thing he grabbed what he needed and got out the door.

Alrighty then, three flights of stairs later, Papyrus goes back out into the construction zone that is King st. Some of the humans glare at the tall skeleton as he walks by. It’s like they know, which is probably true by this point. This afternoon, however, the cleanup crew has most of the bio matter out of the street and has cleared away most to rubble. Bodies have been given over to the rightful families, and already, flowers and candles line the streets as a memorial. Papyrus can’t help but feel awful about all of this. He is the direct cause.

If he just kept his cool.

If he didn’t yell at Red.

If he….

So many what if’s. They plague Papyrus’ mind as he walks, causing him to brood once again. However, this round of brooding only brings him anger. Pointing fingers won’t fix anything at this point.

And it doesn’t stop that brick that was just lodged at Papyrus while he makes his way down to the hospital. Thankfully it misses but it zooms pass, almost causing this skeleton to jump out of his bones. He looks back and finds a small group of humans, anti-monster protestors at it again. This time, they are back and in full effect. The only thing Papyrus can do is run. He’s tired of trying to talk himself out of issues, he’s tired of getting hurt. His only goal is to get to the hospital. Of course the humans laugh and call him names but none of that matters anymore. This skeleton is on a mission and he’s going to see it to the end.

After running an unknown amount of blocks, Papyrus wheezes as he makes it up to the hospital that houses both his good friends. One is awake, the other is sleeping. However, the ghost that has attached himself to Papyrus still has a bit of a pull on him so walking past Red’s room is a must.

That is until he checks the room numbers he’s written down in his phone. Undyne first. She’s on a lower level. Sorry Pap. This living skeleton gives a quiet apology and makes his way to one of the main elevators after walking inside. The hospital is quite busy today thanks to Papyrus and he is forced to wait his turn to go up. Finally, after the second gurney that takes up most of the elevator, Papyrus is able to travel up. He requests his floor due to being shoved into the back of the lift and towers over all of the humans in with him. They give him mean side glances but he pays them no mind.

It takes this tall skeleton a moment to weasel his way out once the elevator makes it to his floor and he has to read wall sighs to find Undyne’s room. Down two halls, the tall skeleton finally makes it. Alphys sits inside alone. Odd. She looks up from her phone at Papyrus and welcomes him inside. No flowers, no cards, no balloons decorate the room. What’s the deal?

“Hello Alphys. How’s Undyne?” Keeping his voice low, Papyrus walks in and leans over to greet Alphys and before she has a chance to talk, a rough voice speaks from beside him.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself? Come here!” Turning to see his friend, Papyrus smiles wide at the fish monster he came to see. Her arms are covered in bandages, along with her face. Skin around her mouth are full of blisters and her scales are a dull blue, but other than that, her good eye is lively. Taking a moment to take his friend in, Papyrus comes over and hugs her. Undyne’s fins shake and she hums back in return. Does she look awful or what?

“Undyne! What happened?!” Getting right to the point, Papyrus sits at his friend’s bed side and looks over still. Her smile turns into a grimace and the once glowing good eye goes dim. Fins fall back and a bandaged hand runs through messy red hair.

“Papyrus… you and Alph are the only two that know I’m awake, under my strict orders. Frisk did this to me. There was something in those cookies that he made me, because I know Tori would never put something like that in them.” Harsh tones come from the fish monster, then a hack. “He drugged me, then took a kitchen knife and stashed up my hands and arms. Said something about me dusting and blaming Red. I just hope he’s okay.” Wait. Hold up. This monster, that had a personal beef with Red, hopes that he is okay? Papyrus has to take a moment to process her words a few times.

“Well, I don’t know about that. He… got hurt… badly.” Papyrus responds, rubbing his hands together and looking around. How does he explain this? No idea. Alphys comes up beside both, pale in the face and turns on the tv, which sits on the news. Red’s face is plastered all over the screen.

“Reports show that the attack from last night is none other than Comic Sans ‘Red’ Ingis. He’s said to have the ability to shape shift. Blood tests from the hospital in town where crossed with samples recovered from the monster last night after some suspicion. His current state is residing under protect to await prosecution once he comes out of his coma. Families affected pray for justice of their loved ones.”

Oh this is bad. This is very bad. They know. Not only is Red’s face all over the screen but now more video of the attack. All three monsters sitting in the room can only look up in horror.

 “WHAT? NO WAY!” Both Undyne and Alphys look up over to Papyrus, eyes laced with fear.

“You lived with that? All this time?!” Cyan magic around Undyne crackles once again. “I knew Red was trouble. Did you know this? That you lived with a freak?!” Tired eye locks onto Papyrus, open wide. Fins flick back and forth. She can’t understand that Papyrus tried to protect him.

“He’s not bad! Just scary. Last night I confronted him about your condition and… that happened.” Trying to explain, Papyrus sweats, his magic glows in his sockets. This is turning bad. No wonder why Red wanted to keep this hidden.

“P-p-papyrus, y-you c-c-can’t k-keep protecting him! He’s k-k-killed 41 persons! Humans and monsters alike.” Finally injecting her own voice, Alphys stutters her way in. “W-why didn’t y-y-you tell us s-sooner?” Short yellow lizard comes in closer to Papyrus, her face is pale, and sweat rolls down her face. Small claws reach up to grasp glasses, pulling them away to be cleaned and then returned. Tail wiggles along the ground.

“Because I didn’t know until last weekend, okay? He’s been hiding it from me. He told me that he didn’t want people to know because this would happen.” Taking in a breath, Papyrus clenches his fists and tries to make himself relax, making his crackling magic go away. Nothing gets solved when emotions get high.

“But Papyrus, Red has a very large LV count! I don’t understand why you couldn’t just…” Undyne doesn’t want to hear it.

“UNDYNE, HE SAVED ME.” Alright, never mind the attempt to say calm, Papyrus shrieks at his friend. This tall skeleton has a low tolerance today and it’s chipping away. Undyne just glares at him.

“Healing you doesn’t count.” She tries to interrupt her soon to be distant friend.

“No, don’t you listen to me? Quit treating me like a child Undyne. I’m not taking your ‘cooking lessons’ anymore. Red saved me. He was the large monster that ran in the alleyway that he talked about. It was him! Grillby told me the story about Red saving him from the water when his roof collapsed. Red is not this horrible demon that you painted him to be and if you don’t stop, I’m not going to interact with you anymore.” Finally, Papyrus said it. That shut Undyne up right away. Her own cyan magic flickering.

“He is never going to replace your brother Papyrus.” Undyne crosses her bandaged arms and huffs, finally looking away.

“I don’t need your protection. I’m an adult. The only person that has treated me with an ounce of respect has been destroyed by your pride and I’m tired of this. Now he’s talking about running away because he can’t handle the stress anymore. If that doesn’t sound like Sans, then maybe he needs to say it in joke form.” Younger sibling determination be damned once again. Papyrus lets out a snort and clicks his teeth. Undyne doesn’t say anything. It quickly turns into a ‘Nyeh’ of anger and this skeleton gets up off of the hospital bed. He looks down at his fish friend for a few moments, lingering to see if she will speak up once again but it’s only met with silence. Papyrus finally gives up on her and stomps out of the room. Alphys stays behind with her girlfriend.

Making his way back to the elevator, Papyrus has an easier time getting in the lift and is at Red’s floor in no time. However, the guards and news press on his floor make it extremely difficult to even get closer.

“I’m sorry Pap, I can’t get closer.” It’s a soft mumble, but Papyrus apologizes to the lingering ghost that has clinged. “I was too late.” Just about to turn around, a familiar crackling voice catches the skeletons attention. It’s Grillby. Papyrus whips around to glance at him.

Flames crackle low on this elemental. Navy at the tips. He seems very warm to this skeleton. Coat up under his arm, glasses in his hands, two white tired eyes glance up at the tall skeleton.

“I got kicked out of Red’s room after the news broadcast. If you want to know, he’s stable. The doctor told me that his coma might last for another few days but he’s showing signs of improvement.” Grillby then starts to lead Papyrus away. “You aren’t going to get into that room anytime soon, come with me.” Skeleton follows the request. The duo walk along the hall ways back to the main elevators in silence.

“So have you seen Undyne yet? Is she awake?” Breaking the silence, Grillby asks his clearly stressed out skeleton. Soft finger tips tap on smooth teeth and it takes a moment for Papyrus to process the question.

“Y-yea. I saw her. She’s up. It wasn’t Red.” Now if Papyrus believed that last night, none of this would have happened. “It was Frisk.”

Those three words seemed like no surprise to Grillby, it almost bothers Papyrus. The flame elemental and skeleton walk into the elevator and stand, waiting to go back down to floor level. Papyrus taps his fingers together, waiting. Grillby puts his glasses and coat back on and walks into the main lobby. It seems like he’s waiting to get out of the main hospital.

“You know. Red told me something funny one drunken night before I hired him. He told me to never trust that kid, he’s a demon. I asked him what he meant and his head hit the bar counter, passed out and drooling away.” The humor and irritation is almost palpable from Grillby. His flames flick higher on his head now that they are out of the main building and walking around the loop to leave the hospital grounds.

“But Frisk is a good kid. I don’t understand.” That makes Papyrus think. He didn’t really see anything wrong with the kid, only that he seemed bored more often than naught. This skeleton just chalked it up to his age, but now, some things are starting to make sense.

“Frisk knew Red was at work the day he got arrested. It makes sense.” Hand on his chin, Papyrus taps his teeth once again as he walks on with Grillby. It’s quite a distance back to where they live so they have plenty of time to chat. Once block down, seven more to go.

“Well, when I finally got to ask Red about the demon child comment, many weeks later, he told me something that I’ve been trying to mull over but can’t shake. He said that he thinks Frisk killed your brother and I’m more than certain if he was here with us, his thinking would turn into confrontation.  I think he’s right.” Grillby has to dodge crackling magic from Papyrus. He’s now breathing heavily and trying to hold back his rage. It all makes perfect sense. This skeletons eyes glow brightly with orange magic.

“What. The. Fuck. WHY WOULD HE DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” Unable to hold it back anymore, Papyrus yells rather loudly. He’s got a soldiers voice and it traveled. Tears roll down his face, this time livid tears, and arms wave around.

“Red responded with ‘because he can’.” Grillby responds in a matter of fact tone. He looks bothered as well. Papyrus isn’t the only one that lost a best friend that day. Still though, it doesn’t change what happened.

“So what do we do? The only person that I know that can check LV outside of battle was Sans…” Papyrus looks lost as he rubs the tears away. Magic finally starts to die down again. No wait, Sans! Red is Sans, just from somewhere else!

“Wait! If Red woke up, then maybe he can check Frisk. That might work… but he’s going to be thrown in… no wait, no he isn’t. Red can teleport just like my brother.” More skull tapping. Papyrus tries to think but right now, he’s just too tired. Grillby pats him on the back and smiles.

“Don’t worry. We can figure it out but more rest is required. Both of us went through hell last night.” As pleasant as resting sounds, Grillby knows Papyrus a little better than that. His skeletal friend walks alongside him. Four blocks, Four to go.

If Red was here, he would know what to do. He always knows what to do. Both monsters are sure of that. Maybe once Red is awake, then they can plan more, but until then, that rest idea sounds good to this tired set of bones.

Both monsters walk about to the main stretch in silence. They say so long to each other and depart their own ways. By now, the cleanup crew is almost finished with clearing the street and cars are able to pass once again. However, the protesters are back at it again and have gathered outside of the apartment building. For whatever reasons, Papyrus doesn’t know, but he does know that they are making it difficult to get inside. Poor tall skeleton has to weasel his way past the group. He just wants to grab his mail from the lobby and go to bed.

His landlady scowls and paces in the main lobby of her building. She’s had enough of these protestors and have called the law on them to break it up, explaining that its making it harder for her tenants to return home. She then spots Papyrus and rushes over to him has he gathers his mail.

“Pappi! Come here.” She speaks. Oh no, this seems familiar, but the tall skeleton obeys anyway after gathering his mail. He looks worried and rubs his hands together, crinkling up the paper in his grasp.

“Oh hush now Pappi. No harm. I just wanted to let you know that you and Red aren’t going to be kicked out. I would never kick out my best tenant, no matter what he looks like.”

That is not what Papyrus though his landlady would say. He must be hallucinating and his expression gives away his thoughts.

“Pappi, hon, I’m being serious. You aren’t going to lose your home. I don’t care what those protestors are saying out there. Red is my friend too. You all are and if my other tenants don’t like it, they can move out.” The elder landlady explains. No wonder why Red likes her so much.

“Well thank you so much. I’ll relay that to Red once he wakes up… if he ever wakes up. I need to go, thank you again.” With a smile, Papyrus leaves for the stairs. His landlady waves back and this tall skeleton bounds up three flights to his door.

The apartment doesn’t feel the same without Red. He misses his buddy. Finally the stress of what he has done comes crashing down and Papyrus starts to sob. And sob. It takes him a moment through blurred vision but he finds himself on the couch, hands in his face, elbows on his knees. It feels like a void in here. No emotion, nothing going on. No sound. Even the ghost is leaving this skeleton alone.

A time passes before Papyrus gets up again. The sun has already gone down, the sound from outside has gone away. He personally thanks his landlady for that. Nothing sounds appealing right now, not even food. Just sitting on this couch, waiting. Something Papyrus is good at doing. The purple blanket on the back serves as a good cover and this tall skeleton snuggles up tight, not even minding his bed. He prays to the merciful angel that Red will make it through the night. One night, that’s all he needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, these guys need a vacation so badly


	19. Oh Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to come to a close. Plans are set. Somebody wakes up from a nap. Tail wiggles.

Chapt 19 Oh brother

Few days later after the tall skeleton unwillingly passes out on the couch.

Sitting in a dark room, a monster breathes. Face mask over his mouth and teeth giving him air, tubes connected into his soul and bones; Bandages and braces all over his fingers and toes; Belly rises and falls in a steady pace; Tail tip twitches every so often and responds to figures entering and exiting his rented room.

 At first, it sounds like a shrill echoed voice deep in an empty room. “Fatass, wake up. Come on.” It gets a little louder, eventually pressing its way in closer. “Red… come on. Wake up. Dad says you have to get up.”

Slowly at first, after much needed down time and rest, Red starts to return. It’s slow. Eyes open, orbs nonexistent. Jaw seems to be locked in place once again.

“There we go! Come on brother. You’ve got to wake up.”

Suddenly, Magic sparks. ‘ _Pap?’_

The skeleton monster starts to move in his bed. Sheets drape over the once limp body start to rustle, until the arms that are under get caught on something restrictive. In a moment of panic, this monster tries to move his legs, same result. Tail under the sheets starts to wiggle in freight. Red tries to pull off the restraints around his ankles and wrists, using magic that crackles in his hands. It fails to go any further, breathing changes from steady to a panic, fogging the mask on his face up. He’s trapped. Soul starts pounding, magic starts flowing. It’s too much for the weak skeleton and he passes out again.

 

* * *

 

A dull haze clouds this skeleton’s mind once and it takes a moment for him to move. Everything feels slow, arms and legs feel like they are trapped in mud. A very dark vermillion figure approaches, able to move better than the other.

“Now what did I say about sleeping on the job? You got work to do, can’t clock out yet.” That sound. Pap! Red tries to speak but nothing comes out. He tries to move but is still stuck in mud, taking much longer. However, out of all of his limbs, his tail starts to wiggle freely.

“See, if you rest, you miss important information.” This odd shadow version of Pap speaks to his brother. “Now, I know what you are planning. Don’t. Running won’t bring back our home. That ship has sailed, or as the humans like to say.”

Red can only look on in confusion. He tilts his skull looking over the shadow. Without speaking, Pap can almost understand his brother’s emotions.

“Hey, don’t get angry, get even. Show that kid whose boss. You might get something in return.”

However, before this skeleton has a chance to question, he is forcefully slammed back into his body, jumping in his bindings and letting out a moan.

This skeleton wakes to one of the worst skull throbbing headache’s he’s ever had and still weak from his out-burst a few days ago. Red still struggles in his bindings. Eye orbs finally return, both white, magical energy tries to crackle in a weak grasp again. He even tries to shift his way out, magic still misfires around him, which finally starts to catch his attention… it’s a deep blue, almost purple. Pausing from a moment, Red looks around. He tries to relax his breathing, calming himself down and thinks. Thinking also feels like somebody shoved a knife though his skull.

Okay, so this is a medical setting. Nothing is hurting him, yet. No doctors. Looks like a hospital. Smells clean. Nobody screaming.

The soul monitor behind his head beeps. It sped up as he awoke and it finally slows down. There is some talking behind the door that leads into his room and it slides open to reveal a human nurse. She has a frightful look on her face.

Red has to take a second glance with dim eye lights. ‘ _A human nurse. Where the hell am I?’_

“Mr… Mr. Ingis!” Her voice cracks. Red raises a bone brow. “Hello. I-i-i‘m y-y-your nurse..”

“Spit it out toots, I don’t have all night.” Raspy muffled voice, hidden behind the mask, Red sounds awful. His whole body hurts, all the way down into this throat and chest. Something must have happened. Even his teeth hurt.

The nurse takes a breath and gathers herself.

“I’m your nurse for the night shift. You’ve sustained pretty extensive injury, more so to your body and skull.”

“That explains a lot but d’eres an important piece missing. **_WHY AM I STRAPPED TA DIS BED?_** ” Eye lights drop, Red rumbles out of his ribs, complete with steam from his teeth, then a sharp cough and inhale, he growls at the nurse. She blinks in return and frowns.

“You don’t remember? Mr. Ingis, you tried to destroy downtown. There are officers right outside this door keeping the families of the people you harmed away from you.”

“I dink I would have remembered somethin like dat.”

“You do have a nasty crack on the back of your skull.” The phone in her pocket chimes. “I am so sorry, I have to go.” This nurse then darts out of the room with speed. She gets out of the door, pauses and pokes her head back in the room. “Oh, I’m Randi. I’ll be back to check on you in a little bit.” With that, she’s gone, leaving Red all alone.

Well this sucks.

Wait, tried to ‘destroy down town?’ and a human nurse…. That must mean the surface. Oh that’s right. It’s fuzzy, but memories start to return, up until an augment with his brother’s doppelganger? Red feels like he is missing something important. Otherwise, why would they strap him to this bed? Maybe the staff is afraid he is going to try something, who knows. The only thing this skeleton wants to do is sleep and GET THIS FUCKING TUBE OUT OF HIS CHEST. UGHHH.

Huffing in anger, Red looks around. He has to squint to look at the monitor, curse his eye sight, and locates the magic bag that’s connected to him. It’s blue. Why are they giving him blue magic?

Wait, his magic type is special. That’s probably the closest match they have to him, which causes a frown to grow on sharp teeth. Red then slowly turns his head to look out the window. It’s dark, must be night time, might as well go back to sleep. It will be a hell of a thing when the nurse returns tomorrow morning and the straps are off his arms.

However, sleep doesn’t come easy. Red sits in the bed staring up at the ceiling, counting tiles, just waiting on his mind to go idle. It finally decides to work as nurse shift changes, along with sun rise. The skeleton meets his new nurse, along with some of the guards, and manages to get an arm free under supervision to eat the tiny amount of breakfast they allowed him. The same nurse, with a smirk on her face, turns the TV in the room on over to the news. Wow, his ugly mug fills the screen, along with video from the assault, which happened almost a week ago? Whoa, Red was out for a long time. Oh, so that’s what happened! Looks like it’s time to leave this AU when Red gets out of here. Nothing left to deal with. He has no friends. Nobody wants him so might as well leave, but thoughts about his roommate plague his skull.

There is nothing left in that relationship, might as well break ties, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking. Papyrus burned him. That physically hurt, to the point of weakened bones. No way is Red going to take him back. What’s been said, has been said. Still, it doesn’t stop the soul ache. It took a while, but this stocky skeleton, this red Sans, started to become attached to this Papyrus. He just hopes that Papyrus isn’t going to try to keep him around, but smile grows on his face at that thought. It’s a Papyrus, of course he’s going to fight. No matter the AU, a Papyrus still loves his Sans.

_But I’m not his Sans. He made that clear.’_

A knock on the door going into the skeleton’s room disturbs him from his thoughts as a familiar face walks in the room. Red squints his tired sockets and growls at the new comer under his mask. The medical staff doesn’t want him to remove the air flow just yet, so talking is a little difficult.

“They told me you where awake, how are you feeling?” It’s none other than Grillby. His flames crackle low, speaking in hushed tones. His beady eyes widen at the sight of this skeleton, who looks like he went five rounds with a heavy weight boxer and lost.

“Feel like shit, probably look like shit and now I found out that I’m hated by just about everybody in town. Gee, thanks for asking.” Red returns with a snarky remark. He wiggles himself down into the bed more and turns away. “Whoever the fuck brought me here, I’m going to rip their arms off. I’ve been tied down to this fucking bed and the fucking staff won’t let me out of these binds unless it’s one arm at a fucking time! Jokes on them, when I get my strength back, I’m out of here. Been trying to teleport every hour since I’ve been awake. The pull gets stronger and stronger…”

Grillby gets closer to the ranting skeleton. He locates the free chair in the room and pulls it bed side, and with a large smile, he speaks. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, Undyne woke up. She won’t talk but she confirms that it wasn’t you.” A wide face smile and slight head turn, Grillby is very pleased. Red snorts.

“A few others want to apologize to you too.” Grillby begins. Red shakes his arms, tail under the sheets flicks wildly.

“Let me stop you right there: I don’t want it. I don’t want their apologizes. It’s not going to change a damn thing. I came to this world to live in peace, but it’s clear the universe hates me. Might as well go home.” This skeleton pouts. He’s just too damn tired for this anymore.

“Now stop right there.” Grillby beings. “Don’t you even dare try to mope in that bed. You want to go home? Go home to your apartment. There are a few people, monsters and humans alike, that care very much about you. Even though the whole town knows your secret, your old work staff has texted me, asking about you. They want to see you, Red. I have yet to tell them that you are awake and I will when I depart from this room.” Shades of navy return to the elementals face as he chews Red out. Grillby takes a breath, waiting on Red to respond.

Grillby waits, and waits, and waits. Red has shut down, not wanting to respond, give anything in return. He’s done, looking away and ignoring his visitor.

“Well fine then! Pout like a child. It’s clear I don’t give a single fuck about you, not one bit. Getting past the guards outside and the protestors isn’t enough for you I take it. I even told them I was your father so I could information on you.” There that should do it. Another moment passes, Red still ignores his vistor. Grillby crackles harder. “Boyo, what I’m I going to tell Papyrus when he walks in…”

A sharp knock sounds on the door frame interrupts the two quarreling monsters and a skull pokes its way into the room, orange magic flushes on his high cheek bones. Red snaps his attention over, his white eye lights dropping and a single _blue_ eye light glows in his skull. He shakes and growls in his bed, trying to get out of his binds. Tight fists ball and arms pull up on the straps, metal clanking on the bed frame. An alarm goes off in the room, signaling the nursing staff to enter, just as Red breaks one of his binds. Left arm is free, claws swiping in the air, after Papyrus, who just stands there unfazed.

A group of nurses enter the room, along with security, to hold Red back down. He fights back with one hand, unused to blue magic as it makes him light headed, trying desperately to pin the intruders to the walls. The skeleton manages to get a weak hold but his detainees easily break free.

“You did this to me Papyrus! You got me locked up in this room! When I get my claws on you, I’m going to rip you in half!” Deep growling and rumbling bubbles up from Red’s ribs as he claws at the air. He snarls and clicks his sore teeth at Papyrus. Eye lights dim and flicker.

“You will do no such thing, Red.” Grillby goes to help. He grabs ahold of Red’s arm and pins it to the bed side. His flames crackle with navy.

“No Grillby, let me talk to him.” Papyrus moves in closer. He pushes past the elemental at the bed side and gently grasps Red’s clawed hand. It gives his own skeletal hands a weak squeeze and try to pull him in.

“Sir, we can’t allow you to do that. This patient needs a sedative.” One of the attending nurses says with haste. She tries to call in for back up and Papyrus allows himself to be dragged to Red’s bed side. He’s just held close by his really weak roommate, face to face, with a growl. The same pain from days ago returns to this skeletons face, along with a fierce anger. Papyrus shows Red no fear, doesn’t flinch at the snorted steam, nor the embers that burn out of parted teeth. Fine lines travel up Red’s face as he growls and hisses at his roommate. Papyrus still doesn’t move.

Just as quick as it happened, tears start to prick at the ends of Red’s sockets. His tail shakes and wiggles under the sheets and he grows quiet. Clawed hands still grasp the tall skeleton as his nurse move about, filling a needle with sedative medicine and trying to get Papyrus to move.

“No. He doesn’t need the sedative. He just needs a moment.” Papyrus looks back at the nurse but she insists. Hospital policy and all. Within a quick moment, there is a poke into Red’s tubing and his eye sockets get droopy. A security guard pushes him back into his bed and the other arm is rebound to the railing on the side. They then leave the skeleton duo and resume standing outside of the room. Red just drools on himself, no longer attached to Papyrus.

Grillby can’t help but look on with a blank face. It happened too fast for him to process in the background. Instead, he returns to his chair and sits once again. Papyrus stays at Red’s bedside, sitting with him. Red is still very much awake, fighting the sedative as hard as he can, head floating around and trying for form words.

“Se… what you… did…? Why… you here? Go away… ‘rus…” The very drugged out skeleton tries to speak. It’s broken and slurred. Beads of drool fall down his face and his eyes are half lid, getting heavier by the moment. Papyrus responds by getting up, going into the bathroom in the room, and returning to the bed side with a hand full of paper towels. He gently daps off the drool and smiles softly.

“I thought I told you; I’m not running away from my friends.” The younger skeleton speaks in soft tones and gently rubs the top of Red’s belly. “I understand that I hurt you badly and when you are more able, we should have a heart to heart. I don’t want you to go away Red. I like you. You’re my buddy.”

“It don’t fix what be do..” A few hacks later, Red growls and spits. Tail wiggles underneath. “My life is over ‘rus…” Damn drugs. Red shakes his skull a few times and blinks away more tears. Angry tears roll down his chubby cheeks and Red is fighting harder to stay awake. “They… are… jail…” A long boney hand goes to over Red’s heavy eye sockets and finally the worked up skeleton relaxes. Chin touches a chest and Red starts to breathe softly as his roommate softly smiles. This stocky and tired skeleton lost his battle and passed out finally, leaving the other two in the room.

“Papyrus, just leave him be. Let him rest.” Grillby gets up from his chair and moves over to Papyrus, placing his hand on his shoulder. Papyrus shakes his head no, hand still on Red’s face. He’s not leaving. Grillby just crackles in wait, deciding to return to his spot in the room.

“I will wait until he wake up because I am truly sorry for what I did to him, okay. Undyne is getting discharged today and when she is free, I’m going to personally drag her back up to this room and make her apologize, even if I have to carry her.” Determination all over his face, this younger skeleton looks over to the elemental in the room and for a moment, the same fire that flicks on Grillby can be seen in his eyes. His fists furl and unfurl. Papyrus is ready.

The sun is down before Red stirs again. He looks better this time, needing that nap. Groggy sockets slowly open, then go wide to find not only is Papyrus and Grillby still in his room, but a rather flustered Undyne and Alphys have entered as well. Alphys is sitting on the floor with her phone, Grillby has given up his seat to Undyne and Papyrus still resides on Red’s bed. It takes the skeleton a pregnant moment until he is able to form words and surprisingly enough, it’s not what he would normally say.

“Damn, you look like shit.” Voice still harsh, Red grumbles out to Undyne. They lock eyes for a longer moment. Fins on the fish monster flutter, tail under the sheets wiggle. Magic crackles in eyes.

“Undyne. Funny seeing you here. Thought you hated my bones.” That large smile returns on Red’s face as he’s the first one to break the silence.

“Don’t flatter yourself Red. As of right now, I still do but we have been played against each other all this time.” Her voice is almost equally as harsh but smoother. Sounds like she’s been fed a lot of water as her scales aren’t as dull as before. It’s like they almost glow in the dull light, along with a tired yellow eye.

“What? Here all this time, I thought it was you. No way is somebody that stupid.” The urge to rub his face is strong but alas, poor Red’s arms are still bound. No way are they going to let him out after that little outburst.

“Ugh, let’s just get to the point of this Red, I don’t have all night. You’re still going to jail so get that out of your head right now. It was Frisk that put me in here, thought you might want to know.” Pinching the bridge in between eyes, Undyne practically growls out at Red. She looks very annoyed and just wants to go home but a large smile falls on Red’s teeth. The fish almost takes the smile as an insult until the bed ridden skeleton starts to laugh.

“Oh dear, you don’t understand. I’m finished with this world. Meaning: I’m going to leave. You aren’t going to put me in jail, nothing of the sort. Matter of fact I’m going… _DID YOU SAY FRISK?_ ” It took a moment but Red stops dead in his tracks, eye’s widening. Mouth almost agape but the skeleton reels it in. He has to look away for a moment, dark crimson almost purple takes over his face.

“Hang on, let me get this straight, the kid did this? Well that’s not surprising. I would bet money that he killed the original Sans too, sorry Paps.” Grimacing, Red looks over to a surprisingly calm Papyrus. His bone brow lifts in confusion. No tears, no nothing. Hun.

“That subject has already come up my boy. Don’t worry about it. They’ve been informed.” Grillby perks up at the mention of the child. Everybody that is paying attention nods along, Papyrus has fresh orange in his face but holds in his anger, but that doesn’t stop him from speaking.

“I just don’t understand why? Because he was bored isn’t a good pl…”

“There might be a way to get him back.” Red blurts out, cutting off Papyrus.

Now that’s just mean. All this time, Red could have brought back the taller skeleton’s brother and didn’t say a thing? Already, Papyrus is reacting by rubbing his hands together. He’s trying to stay in his bones but it’s getting harder by the moment.

“Pap, there is something that you might not know about. You told me at one time that Frisk seemed rather bored when he went through the underground. Ever wonder why? It’s because he lived it once before. Some about him, he has a special power. Almost all fallen children do, or so the one’s that I’ve met. Maybe… just maybe… he might have a small piece of that power left, but the only way for him to use it is to die. It’s like a reset in a video game, or so I’ve been explained too.” Trying to hastily explain, Red looks deep into Papyrus burning sockets and doesn’t blink nor falter. He just tries to keep his harsh voice calm, tail wiggles under the sheets.

“The only issue is that he can control it, unless there is a force with slightly more determination working against him. Again, these are whispers of what I’ve heard. I have no idea if it might work or how far back the kid can use his power.” Looking down, Red huffs and pulls on the restraints. It’s going to be a while before he even has strength to teleport again. The mention of determination causes a yellow nervous wreck on the floor to start sweating. She prays that Red doesn’t look down at her as she gazes up from her phone. Glasses covered eyes met with two white eye lights and Aphlys shakes her head no. Faster than she’s done in a while, almost taking off her glasses.

“Don’t worry Alphys, I wouldn’t ask you for that anyway. Have some back at my house. Ya look like ya gonna faint any moment, chill.” Taking in a breath, Red leans back in the hospital bed that he’s bound too. Oh what he would give to stand up right now. His body is so sore. Tail wiggles, more so out of pain and irritation than anything else.

If Red took the determination, it would turn him into a monster. As simple as that. He already has it in his body but that would give him a boost to push him over the edge. Tired eyes slowly blink once again. Idle conversation returns once Red quiets down. A nurse enters to check up on his vitals and leaves just as quickly. They finally remove the tub from his chest, giving this skeleton a much needed ease to breathe.

One, then two, the group starts to leave this bound skeleton. All but the tallest of the bunch. He stays put on the bed side, eye sockets drooping and refusing to leave. Pity falls through Red’s soul as he looks at Papyrus. A tail travels from under the sheets and pokes the tired skeleton.

“Hey, go home. Go rest. It will be okay, I promise.” Trying to provoke Papyrus to leave, Red has to put on a fake smile. His plan to leave still sits in his skull. The younger skeleton, however, whines and stays on the bed.

“I don’t want you to go… my brother is gone and I’ve come to accept that but now…. It’s like he’s died all over again.” Face slowly starts to flush with orange, Papyrus holds onto the bed refusing to let go. He croons his neck to look over to Red, tears rolling down his face. “Please stay with me…”

It’s as simple as that. A Papyrus always needs his Sans, and right now, that could never be more true. The tone almost breaks Red’s soul.

“Alright Pap. I’ll stay. Just… I’m going to be in jail for a long time.” Deciding that it’s better to lie, Red turns on the fake smile. Tail wiggles under the bed sheets. The lie helps, better to give Papyrus a good last sleep with his soon to be ex-roommate than turn him away. “Come on Pap, just lay down. Find a crook and lay. I’ll be okay.” There, that should do it.

Taking the offer, this tall skeleton lays next to Red, getting up close and resting his shoulder in the crook of Red’s arm, head on his chest. It’s comfortable enough. The closest bound arm rubs an exposed shoulder and soon, the younger sibling is drifting off, leaving Red all alone once more. Well, mentally alone. He just softly hums, trying to sooth this skeleton in his grasp and thinks.

During this lull, Red gets a plan. Alright, playing nice seems to work in his favor, so maybe for a bit, playing nice will help him gather his strength back, yea. Strength means magic, magic means teleporting, _teleporting means revenge._ A very large nefarious grin spreads on this fells face has his tail shakes under the sheets. Oh he knows exactly what he is going to do.

Red’s back humans. He’s going to bloodily murder this child if it’s the last fucking thing he does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its a little on the short side but hey, I gotta get this ball rolling somehow.  
> Also, I'm not dead! Wahahahahahahahah -cough-


	20. The end, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for this conflict to end.   
> No more words, no more actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning**  
> There is a death in this chapter. It's not graphic but it's there.

It’s a rather slow week.

 

Too slow.

 

At first, the news and protesters die off, then so do the frequent verbal attacks. Poor Red has to stay bound to his hospital bed for the overly long grueling week. What do they think he is going to do, run? There are guards everywhere, there is nowhere Red can go. However, each day he does get his normal round of visitors. Papyrus comes in around the same hour and leaves when the nurses have to kick him out. Of course, this younger skeleton doesn’t put up much of a fight and returns bright and early the next morning. Sometimes he brings Red something to munch on like a few cookies from work. Muffet seems to be allowing her employee time off? Or did this sneaky skeleton switch his shifts around so he works extra early and gets out to see Red? Oh well, which ever it might be, Red is overly excited to see his roommate.

Half way through the week, the nursing staff finally take his restraints off and Red is up out of the bed the moment they leave, setting off the bed alarm. Standing never felt so good, nor does he care about getting yelled at. Eventually, they remove the alarm after it somehow broke. In a bunch of bite sized pieces all over the floor.

One notable fact is that Red’s broken toes and fingers healed a lot faster than his doctors thought they would. His wounds closed up within a day of being hospitalized, braces they used to hold broken bones in place are removed half way through. Even his nurse is rather astonished, causing this skeleton to laugh. Red just plays it off like skeleton monsters heal faster than others. Less surface to cover, faster recovery.

Bones pop and creak, but it feels amazing to stand. Red even starts his own daily stretches, doctors where going to try to suggest some physical therapy but they caught him in the middle of a session on his own. It also forced Red to hastily explain that he was a doctor at one time and even skeletons like himself can go through an odd phase of atrophy if he doesn’t use his bones. Fingers up high, then down to the toes, this skeleton finishes up with his morning stretches just as his nurse comes in for the noon check-up. Of course, his nurse is still slightly afraid of him no matter how many jokes he tries to tell or how kind he tries to be. Figures. Once labeled a freak, always a freak. Humans are no different.

The morning after he was giving his discharge date, Red preps himself for his daily stretches and Papyrus strides into the room. An excited ‘Nyeh’ and the tall skeleton has grasped ahold of Red, hugging him tightly. Of course, Red’s tail shakes in response and flicks back and forth but that doesn’t stop this excited skeleton. Red gives in, hugs Papyrus back and gives his skull a small pat. This crimson skeleton then returns to his bed and sits on the side. Time to put on a show.

Each day, this crimson skeleton is forced to put on fake smile. Living his promised the lie almost feels good and with years and years of practice, this smile allows Red to function without worry. Every once in a while he’s afraid of Papyrus catching on but from what it seems, he’s not going too. Either he refuses to believe his roommate is lying or it’s undetected. Either way, it does feel a little bitter here and there for Red. He wants to stay, don’t get him wrong. Just, all the jail time he’s going to have to deal with. The death count finally came out to 43 total, humans and monsters alike so that’s… a long time in prison. Course, that’s nothing new to Red. He’s been to jail many a times back home, but human jail would be a little different. That and he can teleport out at any time. Nothing will stop him, nobody can hold him down. It’s how he’s made. So if he wants to leave, he can. Even if he only has enough energy for a short distance, all he needs is a clear view of where he wants to go and poof, he’s gone.

“So when are they discharging you?” Finally breaking the silence, Papyrus tries not to worry too much but his longer fingers play with the fabric of his shirt after letting go of Red. The taller skeleton wonders over to the chair in the room and rests, allowing Red to sit.

“This afternoon, then they will court me right off to jail, yay.” Duel eye lights roll in annoyance, his chubby frame sinks into the bed side as this skeleton settles in. Oh that feels good. All this medical care, surprisingly, feels damn good. Papyrus looks like he has a burning question.

 “I know you don’t want to go and I know that they can’t stop you, but how would you go about getting my brother back? I’ve been meaning to ask…” Just the start of orange flushed cheeks, Papyrus still holds hope that his sibling can come back. This is mean, too mean for Red, but there it is. There is the question that Red has been dreading for the past week. It’s better than thinking about jail but this skeleton can’t make eye contact. Where to start.

“Oh stars Pap, I really don’t know how to explain this without it sounding stupid. You would have had to live through it to understand. If I do manage to get it to work, you won’t remember any of this. You never do.” Looking down, Red angrily glares at the tile floor. So many events that he had to go through alone. Waking up after watching his brother get killed only to find him yelling through the door to wake up or he’s going to be late for work. Looking back up, Red tries to stop himself from chattering. He then starts using his hands to talk, pointing at himself and then at Pap.

“You and me? We will have never happened. Getting attacked, never happened. Grillby’s new store, he would have probably died from the rain. If it does work, I don’t plan on coming back. Just don’t have the energy to do this over again.” Trying to explain one of the outcomes, Red then switches over to trying to explain the reset itself.

It comes out something along the line of advanced magic and video game like reset, only it’s real. Often poor Red felt like he was in a simulation, only self-aware and all alone. After a few moments of a blank stare, Papyrus shakes his skull and tries to understand.

“I think I understand? Red, this is just, you can’t bring monsters back from the dead.” Papyrus is trying to figure it out, slowly.

“Pap, I told you. It’s a very strong from of magic. It’s not bringing him back from the dead. It’s going back to a time where it didn’t happen yet and hopefully stopping the force that killed him. You’ve lived it time and time again. You just don’t remember. Ever seen something that felt alarmingly familiar?” Trying to stay level, Red explains further. He mentions a possible moment of thinking he met the human, just like his own brother. Conversations that seemed like they’ve been played out before, just to name a few. It ends with both skeletons upset and magic flushed but they both silence up when a nurse enters the room to check up on Red.

“Well Mr.Ingus, I’m pleased to tell you that you are being discharged. Please lay on the bed. The guards will be here soon to pick you up.” Randi, his nurse from the beginning of the week, talks with her patient one last time. She also seems to have a set of gray clothes in hand. Ah, the jail bird costume. How fun. It’s better than a gown. Don’t want the internet to see this crimson skeletons fat butt. Unfortunately, Red is being forced to change right then and there. He looks up at Randi and then over to Papyrus, sweat beads on his skull. Well, this is awkward. Hoping up on the bed, Red unties his gown and drapes it over his legs, crimson belly exposed. First goes on the shirt top, which is a little tight around the belly then pants. With an eye roll and grimace, Red has those on as fast as he can, trying not to flash anybody. He does have his bits summoned but that was purely for himself…. Last night… Right, now the slip on shoes.

Okay, here we go. Let the shit show begin.

The same nurse then turns to Papyrus and calmly asks him to depart from the room. The tall skeleton doesn’t want to go but Red tells him it will be alright, with a fiery glint in his sockets. He’s up to something, Papyrus just knows it. Just as the taller skeleton goes to gather his coat, a few guards and officers alike enter the room, metal cuffs ready to be placed on Red’s wrists and ankles. They instruct the skeleton and he obeys, thankfully, and slowly holds his boney hands out. Those are quickly shackled, and then so are his ankles. They then order the skeleton in bindings to stand up and leave the room in a slow manner. Hospital guards in front, officers in the back. Papyrus has to follow behind becoming more and more depressed.

In the hall, staff and patients alike watch the demon skeleton get escorted out of the room, making soft muttered comments along the way. Red just watches with a bored expression. The small crew make their way to the elevators, wait for them to clear and enter. A few floor stops later, and turning away a few others, the small group make it to the front of the hospital.

Guards move out first, then Red, then another set of guards. News press linger all around with live cameras rolling, all the attention on Red. His face flushes up with crimson as press try to get answers out of the chubby skeleton. They also try to antagonize him and surround him. Even the guards ‘pause’ to allow this interaction.

 

Perfect.

 

A rather large and rather evil grin grows on Red’s teeth as cameras click all around. He then takes in a nice large breath. Alright magic, don’t fail me now.

“Sir! Is there anything that you regret?” One of the stray press members ask, microphone already up in Red’s crimson flushed face. His dual eye lights drop and only a single blazing crimson one lingers, magic crackles in his skull and hands. Tail shakes behind him. Just then a flash of magic and jagged white bones come shooting out of the ground. This fell cackles loudly and breaks his shackles on his wrists with a pull, pieces of metal fall to the ground, snapped like string.

 “ ** _I would do it all again! This time with a larger body count, bwahahahahahaha!_** ” In that same moment, Red disappears in a crimson flash, broken shackles land the ground. Bones turn to dust as the owner teleports out.

 

 In that single instance, pure pandemonium.

 

* * *

 

  

Red broke free.

 

**_HE BROKE FREE._ **

 

**_T_ ** **_HE MURDERING SKELETON BROKE FREE._ **

 

Still on the scene, Papyrus watches as new anchors try not to freak out, security try to keep the peace and this tall skeleton decides that maybe this time he shouldn’t try to linger around for too much longer.

Where would his roommate go? Their apartment is a long way… from…

Taking off like a bat out of hell, Papyrus starts to bolt down the road, his long legs making the most harden distant runners envy his slim frame. Heavy breathing, clothing whooshes in the wind, an orange blur down the street, this skeleton runs like his life depends on it. He expertly dodges other pedestrians, bounds over cars and trash cans, even stopping short around turns, using poles to fling himself. Not out of breath yet, Papyrus comes up to the construction that was his fight from last week and is forced to find a new way around. There, by the dumpsters.

During this skeletons haste, he doesn’t hear sirens blowing by up the street until they are stopped by construction traffic, one advantage Paps uses in his desperate race to the finish line. Beads of sweat roll down the long skull, magic itches under the surface of his smooth bone and flush a bright orange, this monster reroutes and starts his race once more. Up over dumpsters, grabbing ahold of poles to turn and even going as far as using his own magic for a boost over heavily broken ground.

Come on Red, why did you do this? The only set of thoughts in the skeletons mind. His roommate lied to him once again! Why does he keep coming to his defense? Well this time, Red is truly on his own, only Papyrus wants to say goodbye, no matter how hard that might be.

Finally, the double doors into the apartment complex. Ten steps ahead, the cops haven’t even gotten close yet, some resorting to running but unable to keep up with the tall skeleton. Papyrus is inside, up the three flights of stairs in what seems like a single jump and pauses at his apartment door to fiddle with his keys. Ribs heave up and down behind cloth, hands shake, keys jingle and it takes a painful minute to get the door open. Once in, Papyrus notices that the kitchen light is off, maybe Red didn’t…

A book flies over head.

“Don’t try to stop me Pap! I have to do this.” Seems like Red is home. He’s retreated down into his room, door slammed shut. Nyehing loudly, Papyrus is on the other side of Red’s door with a few stomps. The door is locked, figures. Inside the room, things are tossed around. Crimson magic glows from under the door, many profanities are used. Papyrus balls his fists and starts to beat on Red’s door, trying to break the wood down.

“Don’t leave! Please…” Tears start to roll down this skeletons long face. The plead even causes Red to pause for a single moment. Thinking hard, Papyrus backs up and uses a rather poorly aimed foot to break the door open, missing is point by an inch and having to kick again. It flies open to a mess that sits inside.

The sudden open even gave a spook to Red, who looks up with a vial of glowing magic in his hands, clothes torn from his sudden movements. Seems like his scrubs were a little too tight after all. Tail behind the skeleton flicks heavily as his clawed hands grasp hard on the vial. One clawed hand comes up to hold the tall skeleton back.

“Pap, stay back. This is determination. It will kill you if it touches you.” Trying his own pleads, wide eye and all, Red tries to keep Papyrus back. However, the tall skeleton huffs and steps forward.

“No! I’m not going to allow you to leave me. Not after everything we have been through.” Tears still roll down the skeletons face, voice on the verge of cracking. “I’m not going to allow my brother to leave me again.”

“Papyrus, I’m not leaving. I’m going to try to fix this, please, just stay back.” Taking a step back, Red clutches the vial closer. That last comment struck a nerve, tail shakes behind Red. Okay, maybe he can think about staying.

Echoing from outside, sets of footsteps travel up the stairs and into the hall. Angry voices call from outside, unsure as to what they are going to find.

“DID YOU LEAD THEM HERE?” Crimson magic flaring up, Red snarls at Papyrus. He almost looks hurt.

“No, they came on their own. I came because I know you better. You always hide in your room, always.” Snapping back, Papyrus doesn’t take any aggression from Red. Both know it’s true. “Time to go.” Trying to reach forward, Papyrus goes to grab ahold of Red. However, they don’t have any more time as the front door to the apartment is smashed open as voices ring out.

In a very quick moment, Red goes to teleport out of his room with magic in hand, Papyrus leaps forward and grabs ahold of Red and swat team members pile into the skeletons now trashed room.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The teleport miss fires and throws both of the skeletons out on the street, far outside from the apartment. Not where Red wanted to go but it’s a sign that his magic is starting to be spent. Rolling along the ground, the duo come to a stop and Papyrus is quick to his feet, Red lingers for a moment. Being in bed for a week will do that to you. Still though, this section of town isn’t very busy.

Staggering over, Papyrus tries to help Red up but it seems he’s holding something that’s dripping in his hand. It falls on his clothes and … is absorbed in? Oh no.

“P-pap… r-run…” Trying not to panic Red holds his hand out, trying to pick the broken pieces of glass out of his palm but Papyrus stays put. It causes the stocky skeleton to try to prompt his roommate to run but younger sibling determination stays strong in this one.

“The vial broke Pap… oh.. oh staaarRAAAAAAHHHUGHHHH.” Now ignoring the broken glass, Red hunches over, magic glowing brightly from up under his clothes, more so from his soul. Crimson crackles all around, steam rolling out of his mouth from the internal building heat. Red starts to melt slightly. His bones sag, crimson magic drips off of his hands and skull. Clothes burn and smolder, steam rises up out of any and all parted sections of bone, tail drags along the ground.

Then the physical changes take place. Spines rise up out of the back of the scrub top, longer fans and claws. Red is screaming in pain. He grasps the sides of his skull, arms, anything, breathing heavily and desperately trying to calm down. Soul thumps extra hard in his ribs, so loud that Red could swear others around him can hear it, if they get past his screaming. Papyrus tries to console the screaming skeleton by coming up and holding onto him, who responds by grabbing his roommate’s arms and crying. It’s not long before Red’s bone pop and snap, mass growing at an odd rate. Body mass seems to get reabsorbed once again, leaving a spiky, clothing mess in the street. Bystanders watch in awe.

Now both skeletons are locked in an embrace, Red holding the smaller skeleton off the ground and Papyrus is trying not to panic from the flames that don’t seem to be hurting him? What? His once stocky roommate is quite on fire much like an elemental but not harming the younger monster in his grasp.

A large tail squishes across the ground, toes dig into black top, larger hands gently place the smaller monster down. The same large hands give the small skeleton a pat on his skull. Red’s half muzzled face points up high, the sounds of air move from his ribs. Now, time to find his target. His bones sag more and more by the moment so he doesn’t know how much time he has.

“Red, what are you…” Papyrus’ question is silenced by screaming and cop cars. Yep, never fails. Somebody called to report them, other bystanders panic and scream. Both skeletons look over and Red makes a bolt. He’s got much more energy than before and covers a distance before Papyrus even has time to react, leaving a dripping trail. Deep down, something tells this tall skeleton that he’s going after Frisk and needs to protect the child. However, he has no idea where Frisk is. Taking a chance on his own, long legs carry this skeleton down the road out of the way of the oncoming officers. They totally ignore him, going after Red, who by this point is gone.

Alright, need to get a location. Sweating hard, Papyrus franticly looks around, squinting harshly to locate a sign, marker of any kind. Curse his poor eyesight. Something green that’s high up on a pole… come on.. OH OH! THERE!

Sprinting over, Papyrus gazing up at one of the road signs, finding the intersection and readjusting himself accordingly. He counts in his skull, three streets over, not bad. Distance runner Papyrus can make that. He has to make it. Can’t let Red harm his friend!

One street down, two more. Long legs run, feet start to burn in poorly equipped shoes, jacket and shirt damp with sweat. Now on his correct street, Papyrus just has to travel… oh gosh. He’s way off! About four-hundred house numbers off. Time to work those legs, this skeleton can rest once he knows Frisk is safe.

Unknown to him, a large figure watches from up high, trying to keep out of sight of onlookers, who are more focused on the frantic looking skeleton down below. Perfect.

Ribs heaving behind damp cloth, Papyrus now struggles to breathe. He’s slightly out of shape due to so much time spent moping around the apartment with Red that it’s starting to catch up with him. Hand has to fan off his steaming skull, almost there. There is no form of protection out here. No officers, no monsters, nothing. To Papyrus, it’s painfully aware how unware of the danger that is to come.

Trying to calm his breathing, hands shoved in his pockets, Papyrus slows down and comes up to his selected target. He wipes sweat from his brow and pauses. Deep breath, he can do this. Striding up to his extended families apartment, balled fist comes out of one of the pockets and swiftly knocks on a cold dark metal door. Voices sound from inside and a set of feet come up. The door unlocks and out comes Toriel. Her gentle eyes are wide as she rushes Papyrus inside, tv in the living room already turned on the news. They are already broadcasting Red’s escape. Both Asgore and Frisk sit in the living room, eyes trained to the tv. The King of all Monsters has fire in his eyes, a protective stance to him. Frisk on the other hand looks overjoyed, like he’s seen the best event in a long time. His smile drops once the tall skeleton is spotted.

“Papyrus dear, what happened? You said Red was going to behave.” Soft paws grasp the sides of this sweaty skeletons shoulders. Her frantic gaze scans over her skeleton, trying to find any damage. So far, so good. Asgore turns to face Papyrus as well, his own gaze of anger.

“I don’t know Tori, Red said he would go peacefully.” Small sockets opened wide. It seems like everybody in the room is frazzled, except the kid. Same sockets then focus on Frisk as Papyrus pushes past Toriel. His hands shake, not of fear but of anger.

“Frisk… why?” It’s a simple question really. Papyrus wants to know why. Frisk of course glances at him like with a confused look but his eyes don’t hide the evil glimmer. This tall skeleton asks again, getting a step closer. By now, Toriel has entered in, trying to figure out what Papyrus is asking.

“Why did you do it?” Papyrus presses harder.

“What do youu…” Before Frisk has a chance to finish, Papyrus lets out a loud Nyeh and stomps his foot. Magic starts to crackle at his fingertips.

“Don’t you fucking dare play dumb with me child! I know you killed Sans and attacked Undyne. She told me herself.” From that little outburst, both parents surround their child and protect him from the taller monster. “Where is the poison you used on Undyne, hun? Where!?”

“Papyrus, what are you talking about!? Frisk would never harm another soul. He freed us.” Fire at her finger tips, Toriel stands in front of her child. She glares the skeleton down as Asgore protects Frisk with his larger hands.

“This child is playing a game here. He’s the reason for the outburst last week… He’s the reason why I’m without my brother. Can’t you see it?” Orange flushed in the face, Papyrus tries to explain. It doesn’t do much of anything to the parents that refuse to accept that their child couldn’t do anything wrong.

That is until the larger figure that is a melting Red comes crashing through the front windows directly after Frisk, fire blazing from his skull and body. Large claws swipe through glass, going in far enough to grab ahold of the fallen child and throws him out of the house onto the street. It wasn’t expected, there was no time to brace. Just sheer power as the once again skeleton hulk damages the front to yet another building. Once the body of the child comes to a stop, both king and queen are already starting to fight back, fire blazing. It’s too late. Red isn’t here to chat, he’s not here to stall, just kill.

And kill he does. Powerful legs push the fully healed, slightly melted blaster demon across the road, bisected jaws grabbing ahold of Frisk and lift his small frame up in the air, biting down and breaking the child in half. Legs falls to the ground in a sick squishes, torso still tangled up in the demons jaws. Why should he worry? It’s not like he’ll stay dead. This all happens so fast that there isn’t even a chance for blood to drip on the ground. The fallen child’s soul shatters in Red’s mouth and he levels up from sixteen to seventeen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hum... wonder if it worked.


	21. The end, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE END

Darkness. A grey haze.

Time seems to stop here. Nothing moving, nothing making a simple sound. It’s almost peaceful.

Almost, as a ghostly figure stands at his ‘save point’. Something this child has dubbed it. A yellow glowing star, floating in the air. A band of color flowing next to it. Clips of time, almost like ghostly pictures dance inside. More solid the picture, closer it is to present day. Practically see through, Frisk strides on over to the colorful band, searching for his yellow star. However, a trail of crimson catches his attention, then harsh coughing.

“Wow, you were a hard one to get. Heya kiddo. Didn’t think you would see me?” Standing larger than ever, with the shining star in his hand, a massive blaster demon towers over. Four crimson beady eyes glance down at Frisk. Tail flicks across the ground.

“First time seeing a blaster monster? Amazing, am I? Well, funny you should ask.” Speaking like this currently mute child is talking to him, Red steps forward through the band of color and circles around Frisk on two digitigrade legs, long fanned tail dragging behind. Massive claws click along the ground.

“You wanna know how I got this way? The very same force that give you the ability to turn back time, only I wasn’t graced with as much as you. So you see, I managed to give myself a tiny boost and wadda know, I turned into a melting mass. Without a stronger soul, I was slowly dying but thanks to you, I’m whole! However, I still look gross. It’s not fun having your own trail.” Pausing for a moment, Red squeezes the yellow star, a section of the colorful band starts to glow.

“DT is a funny substance. It craves energy and well, my tiny boost gave me just enough to steal yours, meaning, **_I’m in control now brat._** ” With that final sentence, Frisk starts to laugh. Red tilts his skull and comes down lower, nose right at the child’s head.

“And let me guess, you’re going to reset to the time before you decided to level downtown? If you do that, I’ll have control again, because it will be before you killed me, nulling your actions. I almost killed that fish, I can do it again. Then I can go after Papyrus because he’s too stupid to fight back, leaving you all alone once again.” Smirking, Frisk pushes Red’s nose away from his head. The little smug brat crosses his arms. Foot taps. “Well? I don’t have all day.”

Red snarls in return and turns fast enough to use his tail to attack Frisk in this gray void, knocking him down. “No you stupid brat, I’m going to go back much further. You can handle one of me, but can you handle two? As in, I’m bringing Sans back, and If I want to keep you in line, all I have to do is eat my DT and kill another human with a soul like yours. They aren’t hard to find, usually a person in power.” Growling back, this blaster snorts and turns his back on the child. He walks back over to the band of glowing color searches for the brightest spot. Large claws lift up and go to strike its target, and with a simple thought, Red resets.

“I’ll turn everybody against you! You’ll see!” In one last desperate attempt, Frisk calls out as the darkness comes in fast.

“I’ll see you try brat.” A smile grows on Red’s face. Here he comes Papyrus. He promised he wouldn’t leave you.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Six months ago. Spring time.

The flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and kids like you?

“Should be in bed and not working so late at night on their homework. Heya kiddo!” Sitting in his room, a short round and kind of chubby skeleton monster resides at his desk. His face turned up in a very familiar smile welcoming his house guest into his bedroom/office. A set of glowing white eyes shine brightly as Sans pats the top of his surface, guiding Frisk to his spot in the room.

Looking annoyed, Frisk narrows his eyes and strides into the room. His short frame sits in one of the open chairs, math book in hand. Let’s just get this over with.

So far, during the private lesson, nothing has happened. Frisk excuses himself to get a cup of water from the kitchen, passing Papyrus along the way, giving the tall skeleton a large smile. Papyrus was always his favorite after all, and pulls himself a cup. A glimmer of metal shines on the counter: the prized kitchen knives. One hit from these on a low level monster and poof, they’re dust.

A quick trip back to the room, passing Papyrus once again, who pats Frisk on the top of his head on his way to bed, he opens early tomorrow so he has to sleep, we follow this tall monster to his room. He’s sure Sans is punning his way through the math lesson and Frisk is learning something extra good! This child even gets to spend the night with the duo. Sans is allowing him to sleep in his bed, this time not a messy pile of blankets, after the lesson.

However, Papyrus has to go to sleep. The sun coming up and down every day has had a rather odd effect on his body. He’s become tired when it goes down. Enough to sleep. Sleep! Who thought of that? The Great Papyrus would need sleep, who thought of this. Not the Great Papyrus…

Anyway, Papyrus moves on to his room, turning off lights and laying down. Just before he closes his eyes, some strange feeling starts to bud in his soul. Something about this very moment, this evening. Like it’s happened before. Yea, Frisk has been over many a time for homework help but this time, something feels off. This younger skeleton responds by rolling over onto his side and tries to think of something else. He’s supposed to hang out with Undyne tomorrow but right now, he can’t but think about his brother. It’s muffled, but there is a thump in the floor. Sounds like its coming… there’s another.

Jumping out of bed, Papyrus is going to feel so silly when he finds out that Frisk dropped his books again. Down the hall in two steps, the light from Sans room peeks out from his cracked door. Voices are muffled, sounds… odd? Shaky hand goes down to push the door open and Papyrus finds his brother leaned over his bed, marrow all over the floor, Frisk wielding a knife. There is a chair on the floor, heavy breathing and before the once beloved child has a change to strike, his soul is turned blue and he’s thrown into the wall, knife clattering on the ground.

“Sans! Oh stars, Sans, are you alright? Brother?” Rushing over to his injured brother, Papyrus frowns. His hands shake has they cover the slashed shirt belonging to his brother, marrow falls out on the floor. Sans looks like he’s going to faint. Off comes this taller skeletons night shirt and is used to cover up his brothers wound. Both skeletons shake and clatter, afraid of the now detained monster in the room.

Once the bleeding stops, Sans requests his phone. This isn’t going to be a fun phone call. It’s very late at night and both aren’t very sure how Toriel is going to react to the news. The look that over comes Sans face reads one of relief. Finally, somebody understands that this child isn’t good. Papyrus no longer trusts Frisk.

The next morning however, Papyrus wakes cradling Sans in his arms. It’s like he was afraid of losing his brother or something. It takes this skeleton a while but he manages to patch most of Sans’ chest up, patting his brother on his skull and inviting him out for his outing with Undyne. It was going to be a long exercise related outing but after some convincing, Papyrus managed to turn it into a simple lunch date. He really doesn’t want to leave his brother alone after what happened. So the trio wonder down the street, laughing and joking, moving rather slowly for poor Sans. His dressing is outlined by his shirt so they have to take it easy. If it wasn’t for the higher level of hope he gained from being on the surface, Papyrus doesn’t think he would have survived. That was a rather nasty hit.

Off in the distance stands a lone figure, hiding in the darkness. Crimson and white color eye orbs gaze out from underneath a furred hoodie, tail flicks from behind. Clawed hands hold onto brick and the very same eyes watch on from a far, gazing at the trio. A rather toothy smile is silhouette, forming soft shapes.

Back across the street to the laughing trio, the tallest of the bunch pauses for just a single moment, eye sockets gazing around. They just so happen to pass by and make contact with the hidden crimson and white set back in the shadows, almost causing a small smile to grow on the skeletons face. The shadowed figure turns into the alleyway and tries to hurry off but Papyrus is already across the street before it has a chance to disappear. Shaky hand is placed on the figures shoulder and a voice that tries not to crack speaks.

“Do I know you?” Papyrus asks the figure in black and gold.

“Maybe, whose askin?” Rough voice, this hoodie figure doesn’t turn around, tail flicks behind him. He’s debating on whether or not it’s worth getting back into. This monster has about five seconds before Sans appears and it gets nasty, so be better act…

Soul is turned blue and the hooded monster is slammed into the ground, face first. Sans is over, blue magic blazing.

“ _Fells aren’t welcome in this world. Leave, now.”_ Sans snarls at the new figure. However, what he didn’t expect was that the figure would break free, turn and jump him, steam rolling from out of his pointed teeth, claws all but digging into the other skeletons shoulders.

“ ** _I’m the reason why you are alive at this moment. I figured I would at least see if Pap was alright._** ” Snarling back just as harshly, the proclaimed fell skeleton suppresses the urge to bite but instead is pulled off by Undyne. Sans doesn’t back down. Both team up and Papyrus stands watching the whole thing. Pap. _Pap._ He called him Pap. That’s so familiar. Something about this skeleton is so familiar yet distant. First he knew his brother was being attacked and now he knows this other monster. Crimson magic.

As arguing and growling commences, Papyrus thinks. The tail, the hoodie. Everything about this other, much angrier skeleton is almost welcoming. Were they friends in the underground? No, Sans called him a fell so his from one of those… other what’cham call it worlds. Looking back up, Papyrus notices that, Sans is summoning his blasters. Oh shit time to pay attention.

“Hey! I wouldn’t do that if I where you. He’s not what he seems brother!” Calling out, Papyrus tries to distract the three. His long legs carry him over to the fight. Totally unafraid, Papyrus grasps his brother’s hands and holds them in his own, trying to get his family to calm down. Something about this rough monster is so familiar, he can feel it in his bones. “I wouldn’t. He just looks scary, that’s all. He’s not bad Sans, just scary.” A soft smile returns to Papyrus face as he looks over to the newcomer, who stands up tall and brushes off his jacket. So much for having cover. Might as well get this over with.

“Name’s Red.” Having a change of heart, Red decides to stay. Once Papyrus got his name, long arms alright wrap around the shorter crimson skeleton. Sans braces for an attack but Red hugs Papyrus back, rather tightly.

“I told you I was staying…” Instead of Papyrus who gets the voice crack, it’s Red. Tears streak down his face as he embraces the tall skeleton back. Yea, he’s depressed that he no longer has his own brother but maybe, just maybe he can create the life he’s always wanted here.

Lunch date with the trio turns into the four. Red stays at Papyrus’ side the entire time. Sans, of course, doesn’t trust Red one bit but he did say that he’s alive because of him. Maybe that’s something they can chat about alone. Over lunch, however, Red gets tasked into seeing how much Papyrus remembers. Undyne doesn’t know a word of what’s going on but if her friends trust this monster, then she can, kind of, too. Thankfully to Red, the fish bitch doesn’t remember a damn thing.

It seems like Papyrus has bits and pieces. He knows something is different about Red and that they shouldn’t try to press it. Red will tell him when it’s time. However, this skeleton does in fact want to stay and needs a place to stay. Papyrus offers his apartment, Red declines. Sans presses that he takes the offer, so he can watch him closer.

Reluctant, Red does in fact finally take the apartment offer and bunks on the couch that night, and the next night, and the night after that. A week later he gains employment at Grillby’s brand new surface establishment as a dish washer. What do you know? He needed the extra hire and Red was perfect for the job.

Month later the largest storm the monsters ever got to experience comes crashing through town, but this time, Red was ready for what was to come. He allowed the roof to fall in, only this time not only was it just the duo, but Sans and his brother where in the building as well. However, Red allowed himself to be seen. Yes, that’s right, seen. He protected Grillby from water, stopped Sans and Papyrus from getting crushed and punched a hole through the fallen debris instead of an energy attack. It’s much safer that way. Once the Blaster came out of the opening for the others and the rest of the building fell in, proving that he was the one keeping it up, the poor baster had to flop over on the ground and take a breather. That was really heavy. After the crowd of folks stop panicking, they surprisingly welcomed Red’s other form. He’s a hero after all. Saved three other monsters from a falling building. Papyrus hugs his roommate’s muzzle, words of affirmation comes out of the younger skeleton. Sans stands in awe. He almost fought that. A little voice in the back of his skull tells him that would have been a very bad idea and now he’s started to take a liking to Red, oddly enough.

Every once in a while, different faces are traded out with the main three: Undyne, Alphys, and Toriel, Sadly, young Frisk used to enjoy in joining his family to their outings at Grillby’s but due to the recent events, the child got to spend a lot of time behind bars in detention for minors.

Mettaton did have his concert and much against Red’s disdain, he tagged along, often playing on his phone, trading puns with Sans throughout the evening. On the late night walk home, Red ambushed Jeremy in the alleyway, the young green furred monster with horns, and beat him to a pulp. Sans had to drag Red off of him and made the kid run away with a sheer look alone. After that, the streets felt slightly safer at night. Less muggings where reported. It was a huge relief that Red didn’t have to stich Papyrus’ back up again. The crimson skeleton even retold the story on why he did such a thing, at night over drinks with his two other skeletons and Grillby, who wanted to know why the dumper across the street was on fire the night before.

Another thunderstorm comes through and knocks the power off in the shared apartment. Red tells a spooky ghost story as things in the home get knocked around and the tv without any power clicks on to static. Que the repeat of, Papyrus, this is Pap, conversation and Sans clings to Red tightly. The other skeletons report lights turning off when they leave a room for too long. That night, Papyrus struggles to fall asleep on his own and in fact goes to his brother’s room. He also notices that Red isn’t in the improv guest room they set up for him, as he walks by the open door. Matter of fact, he’s not on the couch either after some looking. Giving up, Papyrus still heads to his brothers room and slowly opens the door. Lo and behold, who does he find with limbs wrapped around each other? Red and Sans. He did spot them holding hands the other day…

As fall comes in, Grillby still gets his new hires, giving Red a real life so he can spend time home with Sans and Papyrus. Mostly with Sans, as Papyrus is busy trying to reform Frisk. That fails, terribly and the child is forever banned from the skeletons house hold, and for reasons Papyrus won’t explain, banned from the park.

Once winter comes in, Red is completely out of information on the future, nothing repeats, even though it feels like it sometimes. To the other skeleton brothers, they decide that their grossly narcissistic land lord is very unfair when it comes to apartment rent and has raised the price on only the monsters. To fix that, Red knows of a location. A location that is extremely ironic in a sense but the rent is cheaper, the apartment is a tad smaller but a nice older human lady owns the place, and the complex? It’s called Snowdin Hills.

 

\--- Fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK, I AM SO FUCKING RELIEVED THAT I GOT THIS BITCH FINISHED. NO MORE THINKING ABOUT IT, NO MORE STRESSING OVER CHAPTER RELEASE DATES, NOTHING. AHHHHHHHH
> 
> Good night everybody.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very sure where this is going to go and this isn't going to be a ship fic. Its more about a story about acceptance and friendship.  
> This version of Underfell isn't what you might find online. There will be no edgy sweaty Sans, and he will not lust for Papyrus. Sorry to disappoint, not that I really cared in the first place.


End file.
